University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


KOHALA  OF  HAWAII 


A  STORY  OF  THE  SANDWICH 
IS  LA  NDS  RE  }  'OL  U  TION 


BY 

ALFRED  R.   CALHOUN 


Specially  written  for  "  Once   a  ITeek  Library" 


NEW  YORK 
PETER  FENELON  COLLIER 

1893 


Ilhtercd  r.^r-ording-  to  Act  of  Cong-rose,  in  the  year  13!^:,  bjr 

PKTKR  FKNET.OK  COLLIER, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Corvjress  at  "VTaKhin.yten. 


KOHALA  OF  HAWAII. 


INTRODUCTION. 

No  ALIEN  land  iii  all  the  world  has  so  strong  an  attrac 
tion,  so  profound  a  charm  for  the  American  who  has 
trod  its  emerald  shores,  as  beautiful  "Hawaii" — the 
native,  and  hence  the  proper,  name  for  what  Captain 
Cook,  their  discoverer,  called  the  "Sandwich  Islands." 
Sleeping  or  waking,  how  lovingly  its  beauties  haunt  m<-» 
as  I,  fresh  from  its  ever-blooming  gardens  and  ever-burn 
ing  volcanoes,  sit  down  to  write,  from  a  heart  that  is  full 
of  it,  the  story  of  the  last  great  drama  enacted  in  that 
fair  land,  for  whose  possession  the  maritime  nations  of 
the  v.-orld  are  intriguing  to-day. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   PARADISE   OF   THE   PACIFIC. 

TV/' I  MILES  back  from  the  capital  city  of  Honolulu 
there  rises  an  extinct  volcano,  known  far  and  near  as 
the  "Punch  Bowl,"  and  accessible  from  the  town  by  a 
fine  road. 

People  in  carriages,  well-mounted  equestrians  and  ener 
getic  pedestrit.ns  usually  swarm  about  the  Punch  Bowl's 
rugged  crest  when  the  sun  is  setting,  for  then  the  ocean 
breeze  is  always  cool  and  refreshing,  and  from  Diamond 

(3) 


4  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Head,  to  the  east,  to  Pearl  Harbor,  on  the  west,  there  is 
such  a  panorama  of  exquisite  beauty  spread  our  before 
the  observer  as  entrances  newcomers  and  gives  a  never- 
ceasing  delight  to  those  who  have  seen  it  before. 

The  short  twilight  of  the  tropics  was  fading  over  Hono 
lulu,  but  this  evening  the  Punch  Bowl  appeared  to  be 
deserted,  no  doubt  because  the  black  cloud  banners  that 
threatened  one  of  those  brief  but  violent  storms  peculiar 
to  these  islands  streamed  out  from  Diamond  Head  and 
veiled  the  Pali's  bloody  cliff.  The  pulsating  glow  of  sheet 
lightning  illuminated  these  clouds,  and  a  hoarse  grum 
bling  came  down  from  the  mountains  to  the  garden- 
embowered  city  by  the  sea. 

From  the  jungle  of  lantana,  that  clothes  the  Punch 
Bowl  from  base  to  crest,  two  young  men,  with  a  back 
ward  glance  to  make  sure  their  horses  were  secure, 
walked  out  to  the  circular  protecting  wall  around  the 
summit.  That  they  were  men  of  nerve,  or  so  familiar 
with  the  scene  that  they  had  a  contempt  for  its  dangers, 
was  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  sat  down  on  the  wall, 
nor  seemed  to  give  thought  to  the  fact  that  a  stone,  loos 
ened  by  one  as  he  adjusted  himself  to  the  place,  plunged 
down  for  eight  hundred  feet  of  nearly  precipitous  de 
scent. 

Both  these  young  men  were  dressed  after  the  fashion  of 
horsemen  in  Hyde  Park,  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  or  Cen 
tral  Park.  One  was  short,  stout,  blue-eyed,  and  had  the 
florid  face  and  thick  neck  which  are  usually  found  as 
sociated  with  men  who  know  no  enjoyment  beyond  those 
of  the  senses.  Yet  there  was  a  set  to  the  jaws,  an  ex 
pression  about  the  chin  and  a  certain  firmness  in  his  bear 
ing  that  denoted  force  and  had  in  it  the  suggestion  of  a 
military  training. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  5 

The  other  man,  although  not  above  medium  height, 
looked  taller,  because  of  his  slender,  erect  figure  and 
a  certain  easy,  tigerish  grace  in  his  movements  that  in 
dicated  a  rare  union  of  strength  and  activity.  The  long 
black  hair,  the  well-cut,  olive  features,  the  gleaming 
white  teeth,  and  the  dark  eyes,  that  seemed  to  glow 
as  if  with  an  internal  light,  told  that  the  man,  whose 
age  could  not  have  been  more  than  five-and-twenty,  was 
a  native,  but  a  native  of  higher  type  and  finer  fiber  than 
the  average  people  of  his  race. 

One  by  one,  from  amid  the  groves  of  palm  and  crimson 
hybiscus,  the  lights  in  Honolulu  became  visible,  and  the 
breakers  that  had  seemed,  as  the  man  advanced  to  the  wall, 
like  rising  and  fading  lines  of  snow  on  the  shore  became 
banks  of  liquid  fire— never  seen  outside  the  tropics — 
banks  t\\&t  glowed  with  a  strange,  green,  phosphorescent 
light,  suggestive  of  cold  rather  than  heat,  like  the  flash 
ing  of  the  aurora  boreaiis  on  an  arctic  wintry  night. 

That  these  men  had  not  come  up  to  \>iew  the  scenery 
was  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  did  not  look  at  it,  but 
sat  on  the  wall  for  some  minutes  without  speaking,  each 
appearing  to  be  wrapped  in  his  own  thoughts  and  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  other's  face. 

Captain  Paul  Featherstone,  the  white  man,  was  the 
first  to  break  the  silence.  Speaking  in  accents  that  un 
mistakably  bespoke  his  English  nationality,  and  that  in 
dicated  association  with  cultured  people  if  not  culture 
itself,  he  said : 

"Kohala,  I  agree  with  you  that  the  time  is  ripe  for 
action.  Since  we  first  met,  when  you  were  studying  in 
Paris  two  years  ago,  my  faith  in  your  claims  to  the 
throne  of  Hawaii  and  my  appreciation  of  your  fitness 
for  the  position  have  grown  stronger  and  stronger.  But 


6  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

I  would  be  a  fool  and  not  your  friend  if  I  closed  my 
eyes  to  the  difficulties  that  beset  you — that  beset  us — for 
I  have  linked  my  fate  with  yours.  Now  that  we  are  on 
the  ground,  we  find  a  queen  on  the  throne,  whom  your 
countrymen  regard  as  legitimate,  and  with  Americans 
among  her  advisers ;  but  she  is  too  blind  to  see  that  they 
are  planning  to  depose  her  and  to  make  Hawaii  a  part 
of  their  overgrown  republic." 

Kohala,  the  young  Hawaiian,  tossed  over  the  battle 
ment  a  fragment  of  rock  with  which  he  had  been  toy 
ing  and  responded  in  tones  that  indicated  impatience. 

"I  still  think.  Captain  Featherstone,  that  you  continue 
to  misunderstand  me." 

"In  what  way?"  asked  the  captain,  in  surprise. 

"In  this  way:  Have  I  not  proven  clearly  to  you  and 
to  other  friends  that  I,  as  the  known,  though  as  yet 
unrecognized,  only  male  descendant  of  the  great  King 
Kamehameha,  am  the  rightful  sovereign  of  Hawaii?" 

"Unmistakably,"  replied  the  captain,  in  a  voice  that 
showed  he  considered  this  settled  beyond  the  possibility 
of  doubt. 

"And  have  I  not  also  told  you  and  other  friends  that 
personally  I  cared  nothing  for  the  throne,  that  indeed 
I  was  not  a  believer  in  the  divine  right  or  any  other 
right  of  kings,  that  I  was  and  am  at  heart  a  republi 
can?"  said  Kohala,  in  a  voice  raised  above  the  previous 
key,  but  which  only  served  the  more  to  bring  out  its 
melody  rand  to  show  that  he  loved  to  dwell  on  vowel 
sounds,  but  had  no  fondness  for  the  harsher  consonants 
that  distinguish  our  Northern  speech. 

"Surely,  you  have  told.rne  all  that,"  replied  the  cap 
tain,  "and,  as  your  friend,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  oppose 
your  views.  I  am  an  Englishman,  and  so  believe  in  .kings, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  t 

and  queens,  too,  and  so  do  not  believe  in  the  license  of 
republics,  such  as  we  see  in  that  overgrown  monster  to 
the  east,  through  which  you  and  I  recently  traveled." 

'  'Captain  Featherstoiie,"  said  Kohaia,  in  graver  accents 
and  \vith  his  fine,  expressive  face  upraised  to  the  lowering 
clouds,  "I  must  still  cling  to  my  opinion  about  kings." 
"And  give  up  your  claims  to  the  throne?" 
"A  man  is  not  fit  to  be  a  king  whom  his  people,  if 
left  free  to  choose,  would  not  select  for  a  ruler.  I  have 
traveled  through  many  lands,  and  my  heart  has  bled  at 
the  vice,  the  poverty  and  the  degradation  that  seem 
inseparable  from  civilization  where  kings  rule,  and  to 
some  extent  in  modern  republics ;  but  it  is  from  this 
that  I  would  save  the  remnant  of  my  race.  A  century 
ago  we  numbered  nearly  half  a  million ;  to-day  we  are 
barely  forty  thousand.  We  have  had  kings  and  queens 
in  Hawaii  since  and  before  the  time  of  Cook's  unfortu 
nate  discovery.  Yet  the  work  of  civilization,  of  your 
civilization  (?)  goes  on.  The  missionary  is  here,  but  so  is 
the  liquor  seller ;  and  the  adventurer  who  has  seized  on 
our  most  beautiful  valleys,  and  forced  into  the  volcanic 
hills  the  natives  who  will  not  work  in  his  sugar  and 
coffee  fields.  I  believe  that  the  God  of  the  white  man 
is  the  God  of  the  Hawaiian,  and  that  He  never  meant 
that  we  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  a  race  that  wor 
ships  only  wealth  and  the  power  it  represents  should 
send  us  to  the  grave  and  erect  their  palaces  where  *,ve 
were  once  so  happy.  I  want  to  arouse  the  people  to  a 
sense  of  their  duty.  I  want  to  show  them  that  a  de 
scendant  of  the  great  king  who  united  them  is  ready 
to  lead  them  in  the  assertion  of  their  rights,  and  that 
he  is  willing  to  die  for  them,  if  his  death  will  accomplish 
the  purpose  that  is  so  near  and  so  dear  to  his  heart, 


8  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

and  that  fills  him  and  thrills  him.  whether  sleeping  or 
waking. ' ' 

"All  this  is  noble,"  said  the  Englishman,  "but  is  it 
practical?" 

"Whatever  is  right  must  be  made  practical,"  replied 
Kohala,  with  spirit. 

"True;  still  we  must  take  things  as  they  are  and  not 
as  we  would  have  them."  Then  with  a  forced  laugh 
that  indicated  his  feelings  and  character  more  than  any 
thing  he  said,  Captain  Featherstone  added:  "We  live  in 
a  practical  age — an  age  of  selfishness,  when  dreamers 
are  laughed  at  or  forced  to  the  wall.  My  country,  Eng 
land,  has  nourished  because  she  realizes  that  material 
prosperity  is  the  only  foundation  of  success.  If  you  see 
fit  to  adopt  her  methods,  as  I  have  told  you  before,  you 
will  find  her  a  friend.  She  can  place  you  on  the  throne 
and  keep  you  on  it,  but  it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to 
follow  her  instructions — " 

"And  to  be  her  tool — her  slave?"  broke  in  Kohala. 

"No;  to.be  her  ally  and  her  friend.  Republics  may 
foster  slaves ;  it  is  England's  boast  that  every  man  breath 
ing  the  air  protected  by  her  flag  is  a  free  man.  But  a 
storm  threatens,  let  us  be  getting  back.  And  then,  I 
think  the  queen  will  be  disappointed  if  you  are  not  at 
the  ball  to-night." 

"She  would  rather  see  me  there  dead  than  alive," 
said  Kohala,  and,  as  he  arose  from  the  wall,  another 
stone  was  loosened  and  went  thundering  into  the  valley 
in  the  direction  of  Honolulu. 

"And  the  beautiful  widow,  Mrs.  Holmes.  Don't  you 
think  she  will  miss  you  if  you  are  absent  from  the  palace 
to-night?"  laughed  the  Englishman,  as  they  turned  in 
the  direction  of  the  horses. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Would  the  sun  miss  one  of  the  smaller  planets  that 
circle  about  it,  seen  only  by  its  light?  No;  I  might 
miss  the  face  of  the  fair  Englishwoman  from  the  scene, 
but  amid  so  many  admirers,  men  of  her  own  race,  Mar 
guerite  Holmes  could  hardly  be  aware  that  Kohala,  the 
Kanaka  pretender,  was  present  or  absent." 

This  was  said  with  some  bitterness,  yet  there  was  that 
in  the  young  prince's  accents,  and  particularly  in  the 
caressing  way  in  which  he  pronounced  the  lady's  name, 
that  told  he  did  not  regard  her  as  an  ordinary  mortal. 

By  tiie  time  the  two  men  were  in  the  saddle  the  storm 
that  had  been  gathering  about  the  mountains  to  the 
north  burst  upon  the  Punch  Bowl  and  shut  out  the 
myriad  electric  lamps  that  had  been  glowing  with  a 
cold  white  light  in  the  direction  of  Honolulu. 

The  winding  road  from  the  crest  of  the  hill  was  un 
obstructed  and  of  easy  descent,  and  the  horses  were  eager 
to  be  back  in  their  stalls,  so  the  riders  gave  them  free 
rein,  and  Hew  down  to  the  line  at  a  gallop,  which  was 
maintained  till  they  swept  into  grounds  illuminated  by 
lamps  and  the  light  corning  through  the  windows  of 
a  broad,  lo'.v  inilding,  about  which  ran  a  wide  piux/.a, 
such  as  is  peculiar  to  the  better  class  of  houses  in  Hono 
lulu. 

As  the  riders  dismounted  two  native  men  appeared  to 
take  the  horses,  and  the  salaams  and  salutations  of  love 
and  respect  with  which  they  greeted  Kohala  showed  that 
he  had  at  least  two  strong  adherents  in  the  capital  of 
Havs  aii. 


10  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    BALL   AT    THE   PALACE. 

SET  amid  groves  of  palms  and  surrounded  by  parterres 
of  ever-blooming  flowers,  the  national  palace  at  Hono 
lulu,  with  its  stately  architecture  and  its  indications  of 
refined  taste  and  exquisite  luxury,  presents  a  pleasing 
picture  when  seen  under  the  blaze  of  the  midday  sun. 
At  all  hours  a  native  soldier,  in  a  white  uniform,  paces 
on  guard  before  the  cataract  of  marble  steps  leading  up 
to  the  grand  entrance  hall,  and  this  adds  to  the  air  of 
exclusiveness  that  seems  to  bar  the  structure  from  the 
outside  world,  as  a  great  wall  might  not  do. 

But  beautiful  and  inviting  though  the  palace  is  in  the 
golden  sunlight,  it  becomes  doubly  so  at  night,  when 
Queen  Liliuokalini  (pronounced  Lily-wak-a-lee-nee)  gives 
a  fete  champetre,  a  band  concert  or  a  ball.  On  such 
occasions  the  palace  is  all  aglow  with  light,  and  the 
great  doors  and  windows  are  opened  to  permit  it  to 
pour  out  in  soft  golden  streams.  The  cunning  of  the 
Chinese  gardeners  is  invoked,  and  a  wonderful  trans 
formation  is  effected.  Tiny  fairy-lamps  are  concealed 
so  skillfully  among  the  flower-banks  that  each  blossom 
seems  to  glow  with  its  own  light.  Like  luminous  fruit, 
colored  lamps  flash  amid  the  graceful  fronds  of  the 
towering  palms,  and  arches  of  colored  lights  span  the 
winding  walks,  and  festoons  of  lights,  like  vines  of 
iridescent  flame,  link  the  trees  and  dazzle  the  sight  of 
the  beholder. 

Behind  a  screen  of    flowering    cacti    and  plumelike 


KO.HALA   OF    HAWAII.  11 

ferns  the  Queen's  band  is  concealed  on  these  festive 
occasions,  but  this  serves  but  to  increase  the  effect  of 
the  music  that  fills  the  palace  halls,  and  sets  the  light 
feet  of  the  pleasure-seekers  a-moving,  and  forces  the  walk 
of  the  promenadere  into  a  dancing  measure,  till  even  the 
most  prosaic  feels  that  he  has  left  the  harsh,  materialistic 
world  behind  him  arid  is  transported  to  fairyland. 

Newcomers  to  Hawaii,  who  had  been  honored  by  an 
invitation  to  the  Queen's  ball  to-night,  feared  that  the 
storm  that  burst  on  the  city  after  sunset  would  interfere 
with  the  attendance,  or  at  least  with  the  pleasure  of  the 
occasion ;  but  the  elder  residents,  who  knew  how  brief 
these  storms  were,  laughed  at  their  fears,  and  declared 
that  the  rain  would  add  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  bull, 
by  laying  the  dust  and  cooling  the  air;  and  they  were 
right. 

By  nine  o'clock  that  evening  the  sky  was  as  clear  as 
if  it  had  never  floated  a  raincloud.  The  moon  and  the 
larger  stars  shone  down  with  a  brilliancy  unknown  in 
higher  latitudes;  and  from  over  the  coral  barrier  reef 
there  came  the  droning  sound  of  the  breakers,  lulling 
the  city  to  sleep.  But  to  the  gay  throngs  in  and  about 
the  palace  the  night  would  be  all  too  short,  nor  would 
the  morning  be  welcome  that  brought  repose. 

From  long  lines  of  carriages,  ladies  and  gentlemen  in 
evening  dress,  and  of  all  nationalities,  descended  and 
poured  up  the  great  stairs  to  the  apartments  where 
attendants  took  charge  of  their  wraps,  then  came  down 
to  the  drawing-room  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Queen, 
who,  surrounded  by  her  maids  of  honor,  received  them 
with  graciousness  and  dignity,  some  of  which  was  nat 
ural,  but  much  more  of  which  was  assumed. 

The  Oiu-en's  dazzlmtr  evening   dress   served  to  make 


12  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

more  pronounced  the  more  than  becoming  plumpness 
of  her  figure,  while  it  intensified  the  darkness  of  her 
complexion.  The  full,  sensuous  lips  and  a  certain  in 
describable  coquetry  in  her  manner,  which  was  par 
ticularly  perceptible  when  she  was  talking  to  gentlemen, 
told  that  fifty-two  years,  while  they  might  have  left  sil 
ver  streaks  in  the  regal  dowager's  hair,  had  not  weak 
ened  her  opinion  of  her  powers  to  captivate. 

Queen  Liliuokalani's  maids  of  honor  on  this  occasion 
were,  with  two  exceptions,  Hawaiians.  With  more 
adroitness,  or  less  faith  in  her  own  simple  but  anti 
quated  charms,  the  Queen  might  have  selected  young- 
women  whose  beauty  was  less  pronounced ;  but  she  had 
not  done  so.  The  exquisite  olive  faces,  framed  in  masses 
of  dark  hair,  rendered  blacker  and  more  luminous  by  in 
tertwined  crimson  blossoms,  the  finely  molded  arms 
and  busts  and  the  lithe,  graceful  forms  of  the  Hawaiian 
maids  of  honor  were  well  calculated  to  withdraw  from 
Her  Majesty  the  admiring  glances  of  the  uniformed 
officers  and  foreign  representatives  who  attended  the 
ball. 

It  has  been  said  that  two  of  the  maids  of  honor,  though 
their  position  as  such  was  only  for  this  evening,  were  not 
natives.  One  of  these  was  a  beautiful  American  girl, 
Alice  Ellis,  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  richest  sugar 
planters  on  the  island,  and  the  other  was  an  English 
woman,  who  at  the  first  glance  did  not  seem  to  be  a 
person  who  could  attract  much  attention ;  this  was 
"Mrs.  Marguerite  Holmes,"  as  her  cards  indicated. 

Mrs.  Marguerite  Holmes  had  been  in  Honolulu  less 
than  a  year.  She  had  left  England  for  California  some 
eighteen  months  before  this,  in  the  hope  of  restoring  the 
health  of  her  husband,  Professor  Holmes,  who,  it  was 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  13 

said,  contracted,  from  overstudy  at  Oxford,  the  disease 
which  sent  him  to  the  grave  before  he  had  been  a  month 
at  Los  Angeles.  When,  soon  after  her  husband's  death, 
Mrs.  Holmes  came  to  Hawaii,  and  said  it  was  for  her 
health,  no  one  was  inclined  to  dispute  her,  for  she  was 
frail  to  emaciation,  and  she  had  such  an  innocent,  girl 
ish  expression  and  was  so  unworldly  as  to  call  for  the 
protection  of  strong  men,  and,  at  first,  for  the  sympathy 
of  her  own  sex. 

If  Mrs.  Holmes's  most  ardent  admirer — and  it  will  be 
seen  that  she  had  many  such — were  asked  if  she  were 
beautiful  the  unhesitating  answer  would  be  "No."  If 
asked  if  she  were  pretty,  the  answer  would  be  varied 
and  qualified ;  but  if  asked  if  she  were  attractive,  and 
particularly  to  men  who  imagined  they  had  reached 
years  of  discretion,  it  would  be  generally  conceded  that 
she  was  decidedly  so.  But  as  she  was  neither  intellect 
ual  nor  accomplished,  though  unmistakably  well  bred, 
her  most  ardent  advocate — and  she  needed  such — would 
be  at  a  loss  to  tell  in  what  she  excelled  or  why  he  was 
drawn  so  irresistibly  to  her. 

Mrs.  Holmes  was  of  medium  height,  and  so  slende 
as  to  seem  angular  in  contrast  with  the  superbly  formed 
women  about  her.  Her  neck  was  thin,  but  this,  like 
every  other  physical  defect,  was  concealed  by  the  skill 
of  her  comparatively  plain  yet  perfectly  arranged  attire. 
Her  finely  formed  head  was  covered  by  a  coil  of  silky, 
gold-bronze  hair,  that  glistened  with  a  rich  metallic 
sheen  under  the  lights.  Over  the  forehead  the  wavy 
fringe  looked  very  much  darker  and  suggested  to  the 
trained  eye  the  ravages  of  the  curling-iron.  The  fore 
head  was  low,  but  fairly  broad  and  full  over  the  temples. 
The  eyebrows  were  unusually  thick,  meeting  over  a  by 


14  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

no  means  classic  nose,  and  they  looked  black  in  contrast 
with  tiie  hair.  The  eyes,  long-lashed  and  gray,  and  svith 
au  expression  that  momentarily  changed  from  girlish 
coyness  to  skilled  coquetry,  were  the  redeeming  feature 
of  the  face.  The  complexion  was  pale,  the  mouth  al* 
childish  in  its  pouting  uncertainty,  and  the  chin  l\:r 
from  indicating  strength.  Yet.  taken  a>  a  whol;>.  a:i  I 
particularly  when  animated.  Mr>.  B  -':^-js  looked  like 
an  innocent,  captivating  girl  of  niiu  teen,  thougJi  she 
confessed  to  being  iw»-iuy-six. 

This  wa.-  the  woman  about  whom  all  Honolulu  was 
now  talking,  some  in  unmistakable  laud.-4.ti>.-;:   and  others 
in  doubt  and  denunciation  quite  a->  positive.     To   some 
she  was  a  gentle,  guileless,  charmia;:-  woman,  who  n. 
protection  and  sympathy;  to  oi:,  ae  a  heartless, 

designing  adv.vnfurer.  il.  ijideed.  she'  were  not  something 
far  w<  ;r-". 

The  crush  of  visit)  leen, 

and   she    was   about    to   withdraw.    \vh;  n   the  nauK-   ol' 
Kohala  and  Captain  Paul  rVnther.stont!  were  .'jinuii:. 
Barely  bowing  to  the  Enjji.-i'.man.  \\~ho  at  once  dr--\ 
Holmes  to  one  side  and  o:icered  into  earnest  conversa 
tion  with  her.  the   Queen  gave  her  young  countryman 
her  hand,  which  he  did  not  kiss,  as  die  others  had  d.jne. 
and  said  in  good  English  : 

"I  feared,  my  cousin,  that  3*011  would  not  honor  us  to 
night;'" 

"I  w;t-   caught   in   the  storm,"  he  >::i>i.  "b;i:  I  am  too 
good  a  Hi:  gard  as  a  command  the  invi 

tation  of  our  Qui 

"  1  mighr.  inde*"l    belu  re  y^-ui 

and  aii  indication    or'    your  II. I   I  not  1'ear    that 

another  and   a    more    powerful  attraction  than  myself 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  15 

brought  you  to  the  palace  to-night."  Here  the  Queen 
smiled  and  inclined  her  head  toward  Mrs.  Holmes ;  then 
before  the  young  man  could  recover  from  his  evident 
confusion  and  reply,  she  added:  "But  as  we  can  talk 
again  this  evening,  I  shall  not  detain  you.  I  fully  appre 
ciate  your  eagerness  to  be  with  another." 

With  this  sally  Her  Majesty  waved  her  hand,  and,  fol 
lowed  by  nearly  all  her  maids,  left  the  drawing-rooni. 

One  of  the  girls,  who  remained  back,  was  a  Hawaiian 

of  not  more  than  seventeen.     She  was  a  lithe,  beautiful 

girl,  with  a  face  as  perfect   as   ever  sculptor's  chisel 

formed,  and  eyes  such  as  never  a  painter  transferred  to 

This  girl  was  Leila,  daughter  of  Keona,  a  re- 

,d  prince  or  chief  of  the  great  fire  island  of  Hawaii, 

to  the  southeast  of  Oahu,  on  which  Honolulu  is  situated. 

As  Kohala  moved  in  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Holmes  he 
felt  a  light  touch  on  his  arm,  and  turning,  with  the  quick 
start  of  one  rudely  aroused  from  a  dream,  he  saw  the 
beautiful  Leila  standing  with  drooping  head  beside  him. 

Taking  her  hand,  after  a  pause,  like  one  obeying  a 
second  impulse,  Kohala  said  : 

"Leila,  I  did  not  expect  to  see  you  here.  When  did 
you  leave  your  father,  and  how  did  you  leave  him?" 

"I  left  him  well,  two  days  ago,"  she  replied.  Then  in 
a  voice  sunk  to  a  fiutelike  whisper :  "I  bear  you  a  mes 
sage  from  my  father,  Kohala,  and  must  see  you  to 
night." 

"I  shall  find  you  within  the  hour,1'  was  his  response. 

Leila  followed  in  the  direction  the  Queen  had  taken, 
but  Kohala  did  not  see  that  as  she  passed  out  her  left 
hand  was  pressed  to  her  heart,  as  if  to  still  a  pain. 

The  instant  Captain  Featherstone  saw  the  young  Ha 
waiian  approaching  h*  turned  to  Mrs.  Holmes,  gave  her 


16  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

a  meaning  glance  and  then  moved  off  toward  the 
dancers. 

Kohala  was  evidently  confused,  and  hesitated  for  a 
second  as  he  held  Mrs.  Holmes 's  ungloved  hand,  but 
with  grace  and  tact,  and  one  of  those  arch  smiles  that 
were  the  strongest  weapons  in  her  armory,  she  said : 

"I  have  been  standing  here  looking  for  you  all  evening, 
Kohala.  and  now  that  yoii  have  rested  my  heart  by  com 
ing  I  want  you  to  take  me  to  a  place  where  I  can  rest 
my  feet  and  we  can  talk  without  being  disturbed. ' ' 

"When  you  so  well  express  my  wishes,"  he  said,  with 
a  pleased  smile  and  a  blush  that  lighted  up  his  olive  face, 
''there  is  no  need  for  me  to  talk;  indeed,  I  never  can 
talk  when  you  are  near  me.  At  such  times  I  am  quite 
content  and  happy  in  looking  and  watching. ' ' 

"And  in  coining  princely  compliments,"  she  said, 
with  the  slightest  additional  pressure  on  the  arm  she 
had  taken  and  a  glance  through  those  wonderful  long 
lashes  that  would  have  been  potent  with  a  more  ex 
perienced  man  than  Kohala. 

The  Queen's  enemies,  and  there  were  many  such, 
wondered  why  he  had  taken  such  a  fancy  to  the  young 
English  widow,  and  some  thought  they  saw  in  it  an  in 
dication  of  England's  secret  diplomacy;  while  still 
others  shrugged  their  shoulders  and  whispered  the  old 
adage:  "Birds  of  feather  flock  together."  And  now  as 
Kohala  made  his  way  ta  the  gardens,  evidently  uncon 
scious  of  everything  but  the  slender,  girlish  figure  by 
his  side,  men  and  women  of  both  parties  and  all  parties 
looked  after  them,  and  there  were  meaning  nods  and 
winks :  and  one  lady,  speaking  with  a  decided  New 
England  accent,  said  to  her  escort : 

"Well,  she  has  a  fin^  selection  of  sweethearts.     To  my 


KOHAT.A   OF    HAWAII.  17 

certain  knowledge  she  is  leading  an  old  Mormon  priest 
who  lives  near  here  to  believe  she  is  in  love  with  him ; 
and  one  of  her  greatest  admirers,  a  young  fellow  who 
felt  he  must  wear  good  clothes  to  stand  well  with  her, 
was  arrested  a  few  days  since  for  forgery.  Old  or 
young,  black  or  white,  she  doesn't  seem  to  care  so  that 
he's  a  man  easily  led  and  ready  to  be  fooled.  Bah !  I 
loathe  women  of  that  class ;  they  fester  scandal  and 
breed  divorces!" 

At  the  further  end  of  the  grounds  from  the  palace  there 
was  and  is  a  little  summer-house,  where  at  times  the 
Queen  retires  when  she  wishes  to  be  undisturbed.  To 
night,  with  the  moonlight  sifting  through  the  tangle  of 
vines  and  falling  on  the  broad  rustic  seat,  it  was  an 
ideal  place  for  lovers. 

To  this  place  Kohala  escorted  Mrs.  Holmes,  and  when 
they  were  seated  he  still  retained  her  hand.  It  was 
fiteady  and  cool,  and  his  trembled  and  was  feverish. 

"Ah,  with  you  by  my  side,  Kohala,"  she  said,  with 
a  touch  on  his  arm  that  thrilled  him,  "this  is  far  more 
delightful  than  the  crowd,  of  which  I  have  a  horror,  or 
the  dancing,  for  which  I  never  care — unless  I  can  select 
my  own  partner,  and  as  yet  the  world  has  not  advanced 
enough  to  give  us  poor  women  that  privilege." 

"The  world  will  soon  be  advanced  enough,"  said 
Kohala,  "to  give  to  every  human  being  every  right 
that  God  intended  that  his  children  should  enjoy — " 

"Oh,  now  you  are  going  to  talk  about  liberty,  and 
all  that;  things  that  I  do  not  understand,"  she  said, 
poutingly. 

"No,"  he  responded,  "to-night  I  am  going  to  talk  of 
something  that  you,  more  than  any  woman  I  ever  met, 
should  understand  per^ctly." 


IS  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Oh,  Kohala,  you  frighten  me !"  she  said,  as  she  drew 
nearer  to  him  in  her  winning,  childlike  fashion,  and 
clung  to  his  arm  as  if  to  be  protected  from  himself. 
Then,  as  if  reassured  by  the  contact:  "But  go  on,  and 
tell  me  what  this  subject  is." 

"It  is  love  !"  he  said,  and  he  bent  over  her  till  she  must 
have  felt  his  hot  breath  on  her  cheek. 

"Love?"  she  repeated,  qtteafcioningiy. 

"Yes,  love;  my  love!  But  why  should  I  tell  you  that 
of  which  your  own  heart  must  have  convinced  you, 
Marguerite?" 

"Do  not  call  me  'Marguerite';  those  who  like  me  call 
me  Flossy,''  she  said. 

"Flossy  let  it  be!  Flossy,  you  know  how  I  love  you! 
You  know  that  I  have  one  great  purpose  in  life,  a  pur 
pose  for  which  I  would  give  my  life!  Yet  you  are 
nearer  and  dearer  than  that.  Now  give  me  the  answer 
for  whicli  my  heart  lias  hungered  since  first  we  met !" 

His  arms  were  about  her,  and  she  made  a  faint  effort 
to  avoid  the  torrent  of  kisses  which  he  rained  on  her 
face,  that  was  never  for  an  instant  averted. 

At  length,  though  it  may  have  been  because  of  a  rustle 
in  the  vines  near  by,  he  released  her.  and  gasped : 

"Now  give  nie  my  answer  !     Do  you  love  me?" 

"I  love  you  as  I  never  loved  man  before,"  she  replied. 

"And  you  will  be  my  wife?  my  queen?" 

"Do  not  ask  me  that  now.  You  must  have  patience. 
Wait,  Kohala,  wait  till  I  have  had  time  to  think.  No, 
not  now!"  she  said,  for  she  had  risen  to  her  feet  and 
he  was  trying  to  draw  her  down  to  his  side.  "Let  us 
go  back  to  the  palace.  I — I  am  afraid  we  are  watched!" 

She  hod  no  fear  of  their  beiruz  watched,  nor  did  she 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  19 

suspe«t  it,  as  on  his  arm  she  returned  to  the  palace,  yet 
such  was  the  case. 

It  was  not  to  play  the  spy,  but  to  ease  the  anguish  at 
her  own  heart  that  Leila  stole  away  from  her  friends 
in  the  palace  and  sought  the  seclusion  of  the  garden. 
She  was  about  to  enter  the  summer-house  when  the 
low  murmur  of  voices  told  her  it  was  occupied.  Before 
she  could  retrace  her  steps,  Kohala  and  Marguerite 
Holmes  came  out,  and  as  they  disappeared  in  the  di 
rection  of  the  palace  the  beautiful  girl  clung  to  the 
arbor  for  support  and  sobbed: 

"Oh,  she  is  heartless,  and  her  plaything  is  the  most 
precious  thing  in  life  to  me ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   CONSPIRATORS. 

"How  DOES  she  live  ?"  was  a  question  which  people  skep 
tical  as  to  Mrs.  Holmes  often  asked  each  other.  The 
answer  was  usually  an  arching  of  the  eyebrows  or  a 
shrug  of  the  shoulders.  This  question  applied  to  the 
lady's  resources  and  not  to  the  manner  of  her  living. 
It  was  well  known  that  with  a  maid,  brought  with  her 
from  England — this  "maid,"  as  her  mistress  called  her, 
was  a  taciturn  woman  of  five-and-forty — Mrs.  Holmes 
lived  in  the  one-half  of  a  large  furnished  cottage,  rented 
from  a  respectable  couple  who  had  more  room  than  they 
needed. 

As  Mrs.  Holmes  neither  borrowed  nor  ran  into  debt 
her  enemies  were  disappointed,  for  from  their  first  dis- 


20  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

like  they  had  prophesied  that  she  would  do  both  before 
long,  and  that  she  would  skip  away  on  some  steamer, 
when  she  was  quite  ready,  and  leave  her  creditors  to 
curse  their  credulity. 

It  was  the  morning  following  the  Queen's  ball,  and 
those  who  had  attended,  and  whose  duties  did  not  call 
them  up,  were  asleep.  Mrs.  Holmes,  dressed  in  a  loose 
red  wrapper  of  some  soft  material  that  gave  by  its  re 
flection  a  becoming  glow  to  her  usually  pale  cheeks, 
had  had  her  breakfast  by  nine  o'clock  and  was  out  in 
the  garden  attending  the  flowers,  in  her  great  love  for 
which  there  certainly  was  no  affectation.  Suddenly,  she 
came  upon  a  lame  kitten  under  the  bushes,  and  though 
she  had  never  seen  it  before,  with  a  cry  of  mingled  pain 
and  sympathy  she  caught  the  little  creature  up,  pressed 
it  to  her  breast  and  ran  into  her  own  bedroom,  which 
opened  by  swinging  windows  on  the  piazza. 

"Clem  !"  she  called  out— 'Clem'  was  the  name  by  which 
she  addressed  the  maid— "run  across  to  Dr.  Wallace  and 
tell  him  I  want  him  at  once  !" 

Without  a  word  the  maid  ran  out,  and  Mrs.  Holmes 
was  making  the  kitten  comfortable  on  a  pillow  when 
a  gray-headed  man  of  sixty,  with  an  unmistakable  medi 
cal  expression,  came  in.  He  found  Mrs.  Holmes  actualh' 
crying  over  the  kitten. 

"Ah."  he  said,  as  he  recognized  the  object  of  her  so 
licitude,  "I  feared  it  was  yourself,  but  I  see  it  is  my 
kitten. 

"Then  there  is  all  the  more  reason  I  should  be  kind 
to  it.  and  that  you  should  cure  it,''  she  said,  drying  her 
'eyes  with  one  hand  and  laying  the  other  on  his  arm. 

The  doctor  was  a  widower,  but  the  expression  in  his 
eyes,  as  he  turned  to  thfl  woman,  told  that  his  remaining 


KOHALA    OF    HAWAII.  21 

so  would  depend  eiiitrely  on  her.  He  told  her  the  kitten 
would  soon  be  all  right,  adding,  as  he  held  her  hand  be 
fore  leaving : 

"If  it  should  keep  ill  it  will  give  me  a  good  profes 
sional  excuse  for  calling. ' ' 

She  looked  at  him  in  a  way  that  said  plainer  than 
words :  "I  shall  always  be  rejoiced  to  see  you." 

"They  may  slander  that  little  widow  as  they  please," 
said  Dr.  Wallace  to  a  friend,  to  whom  he  related  this 
incident  shortly  afterward,  "but  a  woman  with  such  a 
heart  and  such  childlike  ways  must  be  an  angel." 

The  doctor  had  been  gone  but  a  few  minutes  when 
Clem  came  into  the  chamber  where  her  mistress  was 
still  fondling  the  cat  and  saidx  that  Captain  Feather- 
stone  wished  to  see  her  in  the  parlor. 

Mrs.  Holmes  hastily  arranged  her  hair  bafore  a  mirror, 
fastened  a  blue  blossom  in  the  high  collar  of  her  wrapper 
and  went  to  see  her  guest.  She  gave  the  captain  the 
same  sweet  smile  she  had  given  the  doctor,  and  her  re 
ception  was  made  more  pronounced  by  her  extending  to 
him  both  hands ;  and,  not  to  be  outdone,  he  raised  the 
hands  to  his  lips  and  kissed  them  alternately. 

"You  have  a  wonderful  constitution,"  he  said,  admir 
ingly.  "I  feared  you  would  be  very  weary  after  last 
night's  carouse,  but  you  are  as  fresh  as  a  daisy.  Now 
sit  down,  Marguerite — beg  pardon,  Flossy — and  tell  me 
the  situation."  And  the  captain  placed  a  chair  for  her 
and  sat  down  facing  her. 

"There  is  not  much  to  tell  at  present,"  she  said,  with 
her  eyes  cast  down  in  a  prett}7,  demure  way  on  her 
thin,  interlocked  fingers.  "He  wants  me  to  marry  him, 
and  if  I  agreed  to  do  that,  I  am  certain  he  could  be  made 
to  relinquish  his  republican  notions." 


22  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"And  why  can't  you  agree?  Mind  you,  I  don't  say 
that  you  shall  marry  him,  that  I  could  not  stand ;  but 
we  must  be  able  to  lead  him.  This  is  the  situation  :  The 
natives  on  the  other  islands,  and  many  here,  believe  he  is 
the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne  of  Hawaii,  and  they  are 
ready  to  depose  the  Queen,  if  Kohala  announces  him 
self.  With  this  young  man  on  the  throne,  England  can 
dominate  these  islands  and  the  Yankees  will  be  beaten 
at  their  own  game ;  for  if  the  adherents  of  Koluilu  du 
not  oust  the  Queen  the  Americans  will,  and  one*;  they 
hoist  their  flag  here  and  announce  a  protectorate  they 
will  be  in  control,  and  they  will  keep  it.  Success  means 
a  fortune  to  us,  Marguerite,  a  future  and  a  home  in  dear 
old  England.  I  know  it  is  not  in  your  nature  to  play  a 
false  part,  but  for  the  present  you  must  be  an  actor  and 
hold  your  power  over  Kohala." 

There  was  evidently  a  perfect  understanding  between 
these  two ;  certainly  the  captain  believed  so.  He  had 
faith  in  Marguerite  Holmes,  but  then  so  did  any  man 
who  came  within  reach  of  her  remarkable  influence. 

While  Captain  Featherstone  was  thus  working  for 
England's  ends — and  his  own — by  urging  his  country 
woman  to  retain  her  hold  on  a  man  he  regarded  as  :'a 
gilded  savage,"  a  number  of  American  representative 
merchants  and  planters  were  holding  what  they  call 
a  "caucus  ",  in  a  guarded  room  of  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 

Among  these  Americans  were  two  of  the  Queen's 
cabinet,  men  who  had  large  interests  on  the  islands. 
but  who  had  won  the  enmity  of  Her  Majesty  by  their 
republican  manners  and  their  opposition  to  what  they 
very  properly  regarded  as  her  arbitrary  and  unconsti 
tutional  methods. 

One  of  tlu'Sf  gentlemen  had  just  announced  that  the 


KOHALA   OP    HAWAII.  23 

Queen,  in  defiance  of  established  law,  was  about  to 
promulgate  a  new  constitution,  which,  if  carried  into 
effect,  would  make  American  property,  which  repre 
sented  eighty  per  cent,  of  all  the  wealth  in  Hawaii, 
practically  valueless  and  render  the  islands  unsafe  as 
the  abode  of  any  but  a  native. 

"If  we  do  not  interfere  to  stop  this,"  said  one  of  the 
ministers,  "the  English  will;  and  once  England  gets  her 
hands  on  Hawaii  she  will  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  relin 
quish  her  grasp." 

Colonel  Ellis,  a  rich  planter  from  the  island  of  Hawaii, 
and  a  man  whose  bearing  and  manners  showed  that  his 
military  title  was  not  assumed,  rose  and  said  in  a  low- 
voiced,  deliberate  way,  that  was  more  effective  than  a 
vociferous  address : 

"The  natives  of  Hawaii  are  as  weary  of  their  Queen 
as  ourselves.  Yet,  they  are  a  proud  people  and  will 
never  be  content  to  have  a  white  man  at  the  head  of 
their  affairs,  though  white  men  direct  them  now.  I 
think  I  see  a  way  to  getting  rid  of  the  Queen  and  at  the 
same  time  placing,  as  an  elected  president,  a  man  in  the 
chair  who  is  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne,  and  withal 
a  native,  and  a  young  man  of  ability.  When  he  was  a 
lad,  after  the  manner  of  these  people,  particularly  the 
families  of  chiefs,  he  was  espoused  to  Leila,  daughter  of 
the  Chief  Keonaof  Hawaii.  If  we  could  bring  this  mar 
riage  about  at  once,  and  Kohala,  whose  heart  is  wrapped 
up  in  the  interests  of  his  people,  will  agree  to  it,  I  am 
sure  we  can  satisfy  the  natives  and  have  a  man  in 
power  who,  while  doing  injustice  to  none,  will  co 
operate  with  us  for  the  good  of  all.  Indeed,  he  told  me, 
soon  after  his  return,  that  under  proper  conditions  he 
would  favor  annexation  to  the  States,  or  such  a  pro- 


24  KOHALA   OF    HAWATi'. 

tectorate  as  would  take  these  islands  iorever  out-  of 
the  reach  of  these  avaricious  European  nations,  row  &., 
eager  to  possess  them. ' ' 

"Colonel  Ellis.''  said  Mr.  George  King,  a  gentleman, 
interested  in  the  lumber  trade  between  Honolulu  and 
Puget's  Sound,  "have  you  been  watching  this  young 
Kohala  of  late?" 

"I have  not,"  was  the  reply;  "but  I  am  quite  sure  he 
is  doing  nothing  that  is  not  right." 

"I  suppose,"  laughed  Mr.  King,  "that  none  of  us  would 
call  anything  so  natural  as  falling  ir  love,  wrong?" 

The  company  laughed,  and,  to  a  man,  said  :  "Of  course 
not." 

"But  with  whom  has  Kohala  fallen  in  love?"  asked 
Colonel  Ellis. 

"I  am  told  on  good  authority  that  he  is  one  of  the 
most  devoted  admirers  of  this  Englishwoman,  Mrs. 
Holmes,"  said  Mr.  King. 

"Mrs.  Holmes!"  repeated  Colonel  Ellis. 

"Then  you  have  not  heard  of  her?  That  proves  that 
you  have  been  away  from  Honolulu.  She  is  a  young 
widow,  neither  rich,  talented  nor  particularly  prepos 
sessing,  if  you  come  to  analyze  her,  who  has  half  the 
men  in  love  with  her,  and  the  other  half,  with  about  all 
the  women,  denouncing  her.  Among  the  women,  how 
ever,  is  not  Her  Majesty,  for  JV  is.  Holmes,  with  her 
peculiarly  insinuating  ways,  has  made  herself  a  fre 
quent,  and  so  a  welcome,  visitor  at  the  palace.  Why, 
last  night,  I  heard  Her  Majesty  joking  tlv  .ittle  widow 
about  Kohala,  and  the  little  widow  purred  in  her  kit 
tenish  way,  and  looked  pleased." 

"I  see  it!"  said  Colonel  Ellis,  with  unusual  energy. 
"Tlit  Queen  wanf,s  Kohala  to  marry  a  white  woman. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  25 

That  act  would  kill  him  with  the  natives  and  she 
knows  it.  But,  surely,  the  young  man  is  not  infatu 
ated  with  this  unknown  person?" 

"But  he  is,"  persisted  Mr.  King  and  others. 

"Then,"  said  the  colonel,  "we  must  act  to  prevent 
such  an  alliance.  Either  Kohala  must  give  up  this 
woman,  or,  better  still,  she  must  be  forced  to  leave 
Honolulu." 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  QUEEN'S  PROPOSITION. 

OUTSIDE  the  door  of  the  room  in  the  Hawaiian  Hotel, 
where  the  Americans  were  assembled,  there  was  sta 
tioned  a  guard  to  prevent  intrusion,  and  every  man  who 
passed  this  guard  did  so  by  virtue  of  a  pass-word. 

During  the  meeting,  fully  twenty  men  were  admitted 
in  this  way,  mostly  Americans,  but  there  were  not  a 
few  German  and  French  merchants  among  the  com 
pany,  who  frankly  confessed  that  they  would  prefer 
that  Hawaii  should  belong  to  their  own  countries,  but 
who,  as  this  was  not  feasible,  were  determined  that 
England  should  not  add  these  beautiful  islands  to  her 
vast  Polynesian  possessions. 

These  foreigners,  if  such  they  can  be  called,  strongly 
advocated  forcing  the  Queen  from  the  throne,  and  then 
asking  Captain  Wiltze,  of  the  United  States  warship 
Boston,  for  American  protection,  until  such  times  as 
the  leading  citizens  should  decide  on  a  permanent  form 
of  government. 

In  anticipation    of    just    such   a  movement,    Colonel 


26  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Ellis  had  drawn  up,  before  coming  to  the  meeting,  a 
scheme  of  organization  that  would  insure  protection 
until  a  convention  representative  of  all  interests  should 
decide  on  annexation  to  the  United  States,  or  to  form 
an  independent  republic  under  the  protection  of  that 
country. 

'Before  proceeding  further,  gentlemen,"  said  Colonel 
Ellis,  as  he  rose  with  his  written  scheme  in  his  hand, 
"I  propose,  for  present  secrecy  and  future  success,  that 
we,  who  are  here  assembled,  subscribe  to  a  pledge  in 
which  we  shall  bind  ourselves  to  keep  our  own  council, 
and  to  work  without  ceasing  until  our  purpose  is  ac 
complished.  Does  this  meet  with  your  approval?" 

"Ay !  Ay !  Ay  1"  burst  from  every  man  in  the  room. 

"Then  let  every  man  rise,  lift  his  right  hand,  give  his 
own  name,  then  repeat  after  me." 

Every  man  rose  and  raised  his  right  hand,  and  the 
expression  on  the  strong,  bearded  faces  showed  that  they 
did  not  regard  this  act  as  a  theatrical  ceremony. 

"I,  Norman  Ellis." 

Every  man  solemnly  repeated  his  own  name. 

"Of  my  own  free  will  and  accord." 

"Of  my  own  free  will  and  accord." 

"And  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God  and  these  wit 
nesses,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  never  divulge,  to 
one  not  authorized  to  receive  the  same,  the  names,  acts 
or  purposes  of  this,  the  Patriotic  Council  of  Hawaii. 
And,  believing  that  our  liberties,  if  not  our  property  and 
lives,  are  threatened  by  the  arbitrary,  unconstitutional 
and  barbarous  conduct  of  the  Queen,  I  hereby  solemnly 
pledge  myself  to  use  all  my  best  efforts  to  depose  her, 
by  mild  means  if  possible,  but  by  force  if  need  be.  And 
I  further  promise  an^  swear  tk*it  I  will  freely  and 


F.OHALA   OF    HAWAII.  27 

promptly  obey  the  orders  of  the  Council,  without  re 
gard  to  my  own  loss  of  money  or  time,  and  that  I  will 
do  all  in  rny  power  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  weakest 
and  humblest  citizen  of  Hawaii  as  well  as  if  they  were 
my  own.  To  all  this  I  pledge  my  honor  as  &  man 
and  a  citizen.  So  help  me  God,  and  enable  me  to  do 
unto  others  as  I  would  that  they  should  do  unto  me !" 

A  solemn  silence  followed  the  conclusion  of  this  oath. 
Each  felt  that  while  it  had  not  strengthened  his  personal 
purpose  it  united  him  more  closely  to  men  whose  inter 
ests  were  common  with  his  own. 

Although  the  law  might  call  these  men  "conspirators." 
yet  there  was  nothing  of  the  conspirator  in  their  looks  or 
purposes,  nor  could  even  the_  most  prejudiced  doubt  the 
sincerity  of  their  intentions. 

Colonel  Ellis,  who  was  a  natural  born  leader,  set  the 
example  he  would  have  the  others  follow  by  grasping 
the  hand  of  the  man  nearest  to  him :  and  so  hands  were 
grasped,  till  the  thirty-five  men  present  formed  a  living- 
chain  about  the  long  table  in  the  center  of  the  room. 

After  this  there  was  less  restraint,  and  men  who  had 
scarcely  dared  to  whisper  their  hopes  or  fears  became 
free  and  outspoken  in  giving  them  expression. 

Among  the  Americans  present  was  a  handsome  young 
man,  Arthur  Loring,  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  who  had 
recently  resigned  from  the  army  in  order  to  take  charge 
of  a  large  sugar  plantation  owned  in  Hawaii  by  his 
father,  a  Boston  merchant. 

So  far,  Captain  Loring,  who,  like  most  trained  soldiers, 
was  not  a  fluent  talker,  remained  silent.  Colonel  Ellis 
had  just  been  elected  chairman  of  the  Council,  an  act 
that  made  him  President  of  the  Provisional  Govern 
ment,  then  and  there  established,  when  Captain  Loring 


28  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

rose  to  his  feet,  and,  with  more  embarrassment  of  man 
ner  than  he  would  have  shown  if  ordered  to  charge  a 
battery,  he  saluted  the  chair,  and  said : 

"While  I  am  sure  that  nothing  that  has  transpired  in 
this  Council,  or  that  may  transpire  at  its  subsequent  con 
sultations,  will  ever  be  made  public  by  one  of  us  till  the 
occasion  for  secrecy  is  past,  yet  we  should  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  the  spies  of  the  Queen  and  her  adherents 
swarm  in  Honolulu,  and  where  they  do  not  know  things 
they  will  surmise  the  worst.  While  I  cannot  speak  with 
absolute  certainty,  yet  I  feel  as  sure  as  a  man  can  in  my 
position  that  it  is  at  this  moment  known  at  the  palace 
that  we  are  here,  and  our  purpose  will  be  understood. 
Alone,  the  Queen  has  neither  the  force  nor  the  ability  to 
assert  herself  as  she  is  ambitious  to  do ;  but  she  is  not 
lacking  in  advisers  who  make  up  for  her  deficiencies. 
Be  assured  that  the  instant  she  is  certain  that  we  will 
resist  this  new  and  illegal  Constitution  she  will  not 
hesitate  to  enforce  it  by  every  means  at  her  disposal. 
Her  army  is  barely  fifty  strong;  but  there  are  fivfe 
thousand  native  men  who  stand  ready  to  do  her  bid 
ding  to  the  death,  and  in  the  arsenal  in  this  city  there 
are  arms  for  a  large  force  of  troops.  If  the  adherents 
of  the  Queen  get  possession  of  the  arsenal — and  they 
may  be  in  that  position  before  another  sun  rises — every 
man  opposed  to  her  will  be  arrested  or  be  forced  to 
flight,  or  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  warships  in  the 
harbor.  Therefore,  my  friends,  as  a  matter  of  prudence 
we  should  organize  a  military  force  at  once,  seize  the 
arsenal  and  disarm  all  the  Queen's  troops.  If  in  this 
work  I  can  be  of  any  service,  as  a  private  in  the  ranks 
or  an  officer,  command  me  to  the  death. " 

This  sensible  and  spirited  speech  was  received  with 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  29 

applause.  It  suggested  more  than  a  theory.  In  it  the 
Council  saw  a  tangible  something  that  could  be  carried 
into  effect  at  once ;  and.  while  it  implied  force,  which 
even  the  boldest  was  anxious  to  avoid,  the  most  timid 
realized  that  it  was  only  by  a  show  of  force  that  the 
Queen  could  be  intimidated  and  bloodshed  averted. 

With  the  promptness  of  earnest  men  who  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  and  a  short  time  to  do  it  in,  the  skeleton  of  a 
military  organization  was  at  once  formed,  the  command 
of  the  Provisional  regiment  being  given  by  acclamation 
to  Captain  Loring,  who.  from  that  minute  on.  was  ad 
dressed  as  '"colonel,"  and  so  we  shall  give  him  his  Ha 
waiian  rank. 

Colonel  Loring  was  quite  right  when  he  declared  that 
this  meeting  at  the  hotel  was  known  at  the  palace,  with 
the  names  of  all  who  attended. 

Queen  Liliuokalani,  like  most  of  the  sovereigns  in  the 
world  to-day,  would  not  be  considered  above  the  mass 
in  intellect,  if  she  was  of  the  mass ;  but  she  had  the 
cunning  that  is  a  good  substitute  for  mental  ability,  and 
then  the  adulation  paid  her  because  of  her  position  gave 
her  an  exalted  idea  of  her  own  abilities,  and  led  her  to 
transcend  her  prerogatives  in  the  direction  of  affairs. 

With  good  educational  advantages,  the  Queen  is  not 
even  fairly  well  educated.  Brought  up  amid  Christian 
influences  and  surroundings,  she  has  chosen  to  ignore 
religion  by  holding  aloof  from  it,  and  so  giving  her 
enemies  a  basis  for  the  rumor  that  she  has  gone  back  to 
the  bloody  orgies  and  festishes  of  her  forefathers.  But 
be  that  as  it  may.  certain  it  is  that"  she  had  come  to 
regard  the  beautiful  islands  of  Hawaii  as  her  own  ex 
clusive  property,  on  which  foreigners  could  only  live 


30  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

by  her  sufferance ;  and  this  she  had  made  up  her  mind 
not  to  continue. 

If  the  Queen,  like  Kohala,  had  been  moved  to  effort 
by  the  high  resolve  of  elevating  her  people  instead  of 
aggrandizing  herself,  slie  might  have  ranked  as  a  wise 
ruler,  and  even  the  most  ardent  advocate  of  a  republic 
would  never  have  dreamed  of  revolution  while  she 
reigned.  But  she  began  in  error,  and  tried  to  justify 
her  blunders  by  additional  folly. 

Even  while  Colonel  Loring  was  talking  at  the  Hawaiian 
Hotel  and  an  army  was  being  formed  to  depose  her  the 
Queen,  with  a  few  white  men  and  many  native  adherents 
about  her,  was  discussing,  in  her  own  private  apartments, 
the  purpose  of  the  white  men's  meeting. 

From  time  to  time  a  native  messenger  came  into  the 
Queen's  presence,  bearing  the  name  of  the  last  arrival 
at  the  room  of  the  Council  in  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 

One  of  the  Queen's  ministers  was  an  American  named 
Eli  Porter,  or,  rather,  he  had  been  an  American,  but  now 
he  was  a  citizen  of  Hawaii.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth, 
and  he  was  further  bound  to  the  islands  and  Her  Maj 
esty  by  his  marriage  with  her  cousin,  a  full-blooded 
native.  To  this  man  the  Queen  now  looked  for  advice. 
News  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  Council  had  just  come 
in,  and  Her  Majesty  turned  to  Mr.  Porter,  in  whose 
abilities  and  fidelity  she  had  all  faith,  to  surmise  what 
had  been  done. 

"I  can  tell,"  said  Mr.  Porter,  with  an  assurance  that 
carried  conviction,  "exactly  what  these  men  have  done." 

"Then  ease  my  doubts  by  telling  me  without  question 
ing,"  said  the  Queen,  her  dark  face  twitching  with  ex 
citement. 

"They  are  planning  to  depose  Your  Majesty ;  but  to  do 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  31 

that  with  success,  they  must  either  organize  an  army  at 
once  or  declare  their  fears  and  ask  for  the  protection  of 
the  American  warships  now  here.  Your  Majesty  has 
only  sixty  armed  soldiers,  the  palace  guards,  and  these 
can  soon  be  overpowered ;  but,  by  acting  promptly,  we 
can  soon,  have  Honolulu  swarming  with  your  defenders. ' ' 

Seeing  that  her  minister  paused  for  her  comment  on 
this,  the  Queen  asked : 

"How  can  this  be  done?" 

"There  are  arms  for  five  thousand  men  in  Your  Maj 
esty's  arsenal,  and  there  are  five  thousand  Hawaiians 
ready  to  seize  them,  if  you  give  the  order." 

"I  do  give  the  order!"  she  said,  impetuously. 

"Then  I  shall  have  the  guards  seize  the  arsenal  at 
once,"  and,  in  his  eagerness,  Porter  rose  to  his  feet  as 
if  he  were  about  to  carry  out  this  purpose  immediately ; 
but  lie  stopped  as  if  struck  by  another  thought,  and  be 
gan  stroking  his  chin. 

"What  detains  you?"    asked  the  Queen,  impatiently. 

"Another  matter  of  equal  importance,  Your  Majesty," 
said  Porter. 

"What  is  it?" 

"Kohala." 

"What  of  him?" 

"The  revolutionists,  as  Your  Majesty  knows,  are  im 
posing  on  many  of  your  people  by  declaring  that  this 
young  man,  as  a  direct  descendant  of  King  Kamehameha, 
is  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne,  and  Kohala  helps  the 
imposition  by  a  strong  belief  in  his  own  claims." 

"He  is  a  fool !"  she  said,  angrily. 

"No  doubt;  but  lie  can  become  a  very  dangerous  one 
to  our  cause.  He  is,  as  Your  Majesty  knows,  an  out 
spoken  republican,  yet  he  could  Iw  made  to  compromise 


32  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

with  his  convictions  by  permitting  himself  to  be  made 
president  for  life." 

"What  folly!"  said  Her  Majesty,  with  a  shrug  of  her 
broad  shoulders. 

"Not  such  folly,  if  their  plans  carry." 

"What  plans?" 

"Why,  the  principal  plan  is  that  Kohala  shall  at  once 
marry  Leila,  daughter  of  Keona  of  Hawaii.  The  two, 
as  Your  Majesty  may  remember,  were  betrothed  when 
they  were  children,  and,  although  Kohala  has  seen  much 
of  the  world  since  then,  and  so  may  have  no  love  for  the 
daughter  of  the  chief,  yet  his  love  for  the  people  of  these 
islands  is  so  strong  that  it  is  firmly  believed  he  can  be 
made  to  do  anything  that  promises  a  realization  of  his 
rather  romantic  dreams.  But  in  Kohala  himself  I  see 
no  danger." 

"Where,  then,  does  it  lie?" 

"In  his  marriage  with  Leila.  Not  even  Your  Majesty 
has  more  influence  over  the  people  of  Hawaii  than  Keona. 
He,  as  you  well  know,  has  never  been  your  friend.  If 
his  daughter  becomes  the  wife  of  Kohala  he  will  have 
a  double  reason  for  opposing  you — his  personal  hate  and 
his  family  pride.  Your  Majesty's  husband  was  a  white 
man,  and,  as  you  know,  the  people  never  liked  it.  With 
the  daughter  of  a  chief  for  his  wife,  Kohala  can  appeal 
to  the  pride  of  the  natives,  and  they  will  flock  to  his 
support.  And,  let  me  add,  the  Americans,  nearly  all  of 
whom  are  Your  Majesty's  enemies,  strongly  favor  this 
marriage." 

"But,  Mr.  Porter,"  said  the  Queen,  with  a  compression 
of  the  very  full  lips,  "how  would  you  stop  it?" 

"There  are  two  ways  of  doing  it,"  replied  Porter. 

"What  are  they?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  33 

Speaking  very  slowly,  and  looking  down  at  a  paper 
held  in  his  hand  as  if  he  saw  the  words  there.  Porter 
said : 

"Sovereigns- with  devoted  subjects  have  never  had 
much  trouble  in  getting  rid  of  a  rival — of  the  rival-he 
met  at  the  start." 

"I  do  not  quite  understand;  but  let  that  go.  "What  is 
the  second  way  of  making  this  young  man  harmless?" 
and  the  Queen  half  closed  her  eyes  and  looked  up  at  the 
ceiling. 

"I  would  marry  him  to  a  white  woman  at  once." 

"But  what  good  would  that  do?" 

"It  would  array  Keona  and  all  the  natives  against 
him/1 

"You  think  so?'' 

"1  am  sure  of  it." 

"But  would  they  come  to  my  side?" 

"They  might.  Again,  by  marrying  such  a  woman,  lie 
would  alienate  the  Americans. ' ' 

"Ah !"  exclaimed  the  Queen,  and  she  brought  her  fat 
palms  together  with  a  smack,  "that  is  what  we  want. 
We  must  alienate  the  Americans  from  him  ;  would  that 
we  could  banish  them  from  Hawaii  at  the  same  time." 


CHAPTER  V. 

MRS.    HOLMES  IN   A   QUANDARY. 

MARGUERITE  HOLMES  was  much  talked  about  in  Hono 
lulu.  She  was  a  woman  who  would  attract  attention 
wherever  she  went,  vet  it  could  not  be  said  with  truth 


34  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

that  she  courted  notoriety;  it  came  to  her.  She  im 
pressed  one  at  first  as  being  shrinking,  if  not  reserved, 
still  she  soon  became  a  center  of  attraction,  particularly 
to  elderly  men,  over  whom  she  seemed  to  exercise  a 
peculiar  fascination. 

Young  men  did  not  take  kindly  to  her,  though  when 
she  chose  to  exercise  her  remarkable  powers  she  could, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  Kohala  and  Captain 
Featherstone,  bring  them  to  her  feet. 

When  at  home  Mrs.  Holmes  occupied  her  time  in  writ 
ing  or  in  arranging  her  own  dresses;  the  latter  never 
followed  the  lines  of  fashion,  but  were  cut  and  draped 
with  an  eye  to  her  own  figure  and  complexion ;  and  the 
consequence  was  that,  with  the  simplest  materials,  she 
always  managed  to  look  the  best  and  the  most  tastefully 
dressed  woman  in  any  gathering  where  she  was  a  guest. 

When  not  a  nimated  in  conversation  Mrs.  Holmes's, 
face  seemed  pinched  and  wan,  and  the  long-lashed  eyes, 
had  in  them  a  sorrowing,  introverted  expression  that 
made  her  look  older  than  the  years  she  claimed. 

She  was  bending  over  her  sewing  to-night  in  a  little 
bow-windowed  apartment  that  was  half  boudoir,  half 
sitting-room,  when  the  angular  and  taciturn  Clem 
entered,  and  said: 

"Captain  Featherstone,  mem." 

"Show  him  in,  Clem,"  said  Mrs.  Holmes. 

On  the  instant  the  expression  of  age  and  heart-torture 
vanished,  and  the  childlike  light  of  innocence  and  ex 
pectancy  came  into  the  remarkable  eyes. 

"I  hardly  expected  you  to-night,  captain,"  she  said, 
as,  without  rising,  she  extended  to  him  her  left  hand. 
The  right  still  held  the  needle  and  the  sewing  was  on  her 
lap. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  35 

"Nor  would  I  have  disturbed  you  again,  Flossy,  if 
it  were  not  that  I  am  in  trouble,"  said  Featherstone. 

"In  trouble?"  she  echoed. 

"Yes." 

"But  I  hope  not  in  danger?" 

"Every  suspected  man  and  woman  in  Honolulu  to 
night  is  in  danger ;  but  men  who  play  for  large  stakes 
must  take  some  risks."  Then,  as  if  putting  himself 
aside,  he  asked:  "When  have  you  seen  Kohala?" 

"To-day." 

"He  came  here?" 

"He  did." 

"And  how  did  lie  seem?" 

"Much  worried.  He  told  me  that  he  must  leave  to 
morrow  for  Hilo." 

"For  Hilo?" 

"Yes.  There  is  to  be  a  meeting  of  all  the  native  oppo 
nents  of  the  Queen  in.  a  great  cave  near  the  lake  of  fire, 
where,  for  centuries,  the  chiefs  of  Hawaii  have  assembled 
whenever  there  was  danger.  The  message  has  come  to 
him  through  Keona,  a  powerful  chief  on  that  island.  He 
says  that,  for  the  sake  of  the  people  whom  he  so  loves, 
he  dare  not  disobey.  Ah !  I  fear  there  is  going  to  be 
trouble — bloodshed!"  cried  Marguerite,  and  she  inter 
locked  her  thin  fingers  above  her  sewing  and  looked 
imploringly  at  the  captain,  as  if  asking  him  to  allay  her 
fears. 

"Do  you  fear  for  yourself?"  asked  Featherstone. 

"No;  I  am  not  a  coward,"  she  said,- with  spirit. 

"Then  you  fear  for  him?" 

"Why  should  I  not  fear  for  him  ?  Can  any  woman  with 
a  heart  remain  indifferent  to  the  man  who  pays  her  the 


36  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

greatest  compliment  it  is  possible  for  man  to  pay?  I 
would  do  much  to  help  him  and  to  save  him." 

"Pardon  me,  Flossy.  You  are  quite  right.  I  am  apt 
to  forget  my  true  mission  here  in  my  love  for  you.  But, 
tell  me,  does  he  still  persist  on  an  immediate  mar 
riage?" 

"He  does." 

"And  your  answer?" 

"I  have  obeyed  your  instructions.  I  will  not  promise 
to  be  his  wife  till  he  becomes  the  king  of  Hawaii  and 
makes  England  an  ally.  This,  I  told  him,  will  prove 
that  his  love  for  me,  while  a  private  citizen,  has  not 
been  changed  by  his  becoming  a  king. ' ' 

"Ah!  Flossy,  you  are  a  natural  born  diplomat,"  said 
Featherstone,  admiringly.  He  was  about  to  continue, 
when  Clem  rapped  at  the  door — something  she  never  did 
when  her  mistress  was  alone — and  entered  before  she 
heard  a  response. 

"A  lady,  mem,"  said  Clem,  and  she  handed  Mrs. 
Holmes  a  card,  then  withdrew  to  the  door,  which  she 
held  ajar. 

"Mercy!"  exclaimed  Marguerite,  and  the  card 
trembled  in  her  hand.  "It  is  the  Queen!  She  must 
not  see  you  here!" 

"But  I  cannot  get  out  without  seeing  her!"  cried 
Featherstone,  and  ne  rose  to  his  feet  and  looked  about 
him. 

"Quick!  there  is  a  closet!"  Mrs.  Holmes  pointed  to 
a  door  behind  her,  and  on  the  instant  Featherstone 
vanished. 

She  rose,  put  away  her  sewing,  glanced  at  her  face  in 
the  mirror,  adjusted  the  violet  blossoms  at  her  throat 
and  went  out  to  meet  her  visitor. 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  37 

Although  heavily  veiled,  no  one  familiar  with  the 
figure  of  the  Queen  could  be  mistaken  as  to  her  identity. 
She  had  left  her  carriage  in  a  street  near  by  and  come 
to  this  cottage  alone  and  on  foot. 

Bending  down  and  kissing  the  little  Englishwoman 
on  the  cheek,  the  Queen  whispered : 

"My  dear,  take  me  where  we  can  talk  without  being- 
disturbed.  Here,  your  boudoir  will  suit,"  and  before 
Mrs.  Holmes,  who  was  about  to  suggest  the  bedroom, 
could  respond  Her  Majesty  led  the  way,  for  this  was 
not  her  first  visit. 

"Are  you  sure  we  can  talk  here  without  being  ob 
served?"  asked  the  Queen,  as  she  dropped  into  a  large 
wicker  chair  and  wiped  her  face. 

"Ye — yes;  we  can  talk  here  in  safety,"  replied  Mrs. 
Holmes,  with  the  slightest  tremor  in  her  low,  sweet 
voice. 

"I  am  in  trouble — in  sore  trouble,"  began  Her  Maj 
esty.  "I  am  surrounded  by  enemies,  men  to  whom  I 
and  my  ancestors  have  given  a  home  and  a  welcome, 
and  scarce  knowing  where  to  turn  for  a  friend  whom 
I  can  trust,  I  have  come  to  you,  for  you,  at  least,  are 
true,  and  you,  more  than  any  one  in  Honolulu,  can  help 
me." 

"I  am  Your  Majesty's  to  command,"  said  Marguerite, 
with  a  self-deprecating  shake  of  the  head;  "but  I  am 
so  weak  and  helpless  that  I  cannot  see  how  I  can  be 
of  service  to  any  one,  much  less  to  the  good  Queen 
of  Hawaii." 

"You  will  be  entirely  frank  with  me?" 

"Surely,  Your  Majesty." 

"Do  you  love  Kohala?"  and  the  Queen  straightened 
up  and  fastened  her  big  black  eyes  on  the  little  widow. 


38  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"I  am  not  indifferent  to  Kohala,"  replied  Marguerite, 
and  she  looked  down  on  her  thin  interlocked  fingers,  as 
was  her  habit  wTheii  particularly  serious.  "But,"  she 
continued,  "I  cannot  forget  that  I  am  only  recently  a 
widow,  and  that  I  am  not  as  yet  physically  strong." 

"But  Kohala  is  rich." 

"That  would  be  no  inducement  to  me." 

"And  he  is  handsome." 

"I  concede  that." 

"And  well  educated,  though  I  think  you  white  people 
give  too  much  importance  to  mere  learning.  But  there 
is  one  thing  a  woman  values  more  than  wealth,  beauty 
or  education." 

'What  is  that.  Your  Majesty?" 

"Love  !    The  young  man  loves  you. " 

"I  am  afraid  he  does." 

"And  by  that  chain  of  love  you  can  lead  him  where 
you  will.  Are  you  ready  to  do  it  to  help  me?" 

"Your  Majesty,  my  mind  is  dull  to-night  and  my 
heart  is  heavy;  I  do  not  understand,"  said  Marguerite, 
appealingly. 

"Then  I  shall  be  plainer."  The  Queen  drew  her  chair 
nearer,  and,  sinking  her  voice  to  a  whisper  that  seemed 
masculine  in  its  hoarseness,  she  continued:  "If  you 
marry  Kohala  at  once  it  can  be  kept  secret  till  such  time 
as  you  choose  to  disclose  it.  I  will  see  to  it  that  lie  leaves 
immediately  after  the  ceremony,  which  can  take  place 
to-morrow  morning  at  the  palace,  and  there  you  can 
remain  under  my  protection — the  protection  of  a  loving 
mother — so  long  as  you  are  content  with  such  a  friend 
and  such  a  home.  Wait,  do  not  stop  me.  I  am  not  rich, 
but  I  command  wealth  and  power.  Do  as  I  ask  you,  and 
there  will  be  nothing  in  my  gift  to  grant  for  which  you 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  39 

will  need  to  ask  a  second  time.  Now,  what  say  you,  my 
precious  friend?" 

"It  is  so — so  sudden,"  said  Mrs.  Holmes,  her  eyes  still 
on  the  interlocked  fingers. 

"But  I  cannot  wait.  I  must  have  your  answer  to 
night  ;  at  once !"  and  the  Queen  rose  and  towered  above 
the  little  widow  like  a  gigantic  silhouette. 

"But  I  must  have  the  night  to  consider,"  said  Margue 
rite,  with  an  upward  glance  at  the  full,  swarthy  face  of 
the  Queen. 

"This  night?" 

"Yes,  this  night." 

"And  your  answer  will  be  ready  in  the  morning?" 

"It  will." 

"And  you  will  fetch  it  to  the  palace?" 

"If  Your  Majesty  desires  it." 

"I  do  desire  it.  I  shall  see  you  not  later  than  nine 
o'clock?" 

"If  Your  Majesty  so  orders." 

"No.    I  so  request.    I  never  order  those  whom  I  love." 

Marguerite,  following  her  guest's  example,  rose,  and, 
on  the  instant,  the  big,  strong  arms  were  about  her  little 
neck,  and  the  Queen,  after  kissing  her  on  both  cheeks, 
withdrew. 

"Well !"  exclaimed  Featherstone.  as  he  emerged  from 
the  closet,  "I  am  glad  she  has  gone,  and  I  am  equally 
glad  that  I  had  an  opportunity  to  hear  her  proposition." 

"And  I  am  sorry  that  you  have  heard  it.  I  do  not  like 
the  idea  of  playing  traitor,"  said  Marguerite,  the  pinched, 
weary  expression  again  coming  into  the  childish,  ir 
resolute  face.  . 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 


40  KOHALA    OP    HAWAII. 

She  raised  her  hands  to  her  face,  let  them  fall  help 
lessly,  and  half  sobbed : 

"I  do  not  know.  I  have  been  following  your  instruc 
tions.  You  are  a  man,  and  strong;  I  am  a  woman,  and 
weak.  What  do  you  advise?" 

"You  cannot  permit  an  actual  marriage— for  my  sake. ' ' 

"And  yet  you  are  willing  that  I  should  pretend  to  an 
illegal  marriage  so  that  you  can  hold  this  man  to  your 
purpose  and  eventually  marry  me  yourself:  is  not  that 
it?" 

"That  is  exactly  it.  It  is  in  our  power,  through  Kohala 
and  his  followers,  to  make  Hawaii  an  English  colony,  the 
property  of  the  British  crown.  If  we  win — and  I  am  sure 
we  can — it  means  a  fortune  for  you  and  me.  One  hun 
dred  thousand  pounds  will  be  the  reward  of  our  success. 
With  such  a  fortune  and  with  such  a  wife,  I  shall  be  the 
happiest  man  in  the  world. ' ' 

"But  what  must  I  do?"  she  asked. 

"I  have  already  told  you.  You  must  get  him  to  issue 
a  proclamation,  calling  on  the  Hawaiians  to  sustain  him 
as  their  legal  king,  and  to  depose  the  Queen  as  a  pre 
tender.  Such  an  act  on  his  part  will  give  Falkland  her 
opportunity  ;  we  shall  then  havre  a  majority  of  the  natives 
behind  us,  and  the  rest  will  be  easy.  Indeed,  after  the 
deposition  of  the  Queen  and  the  crowning  of  Kohala,  it 
-would  be  better  for  my  purpose  if  the  gilded  younj.-; 
savage  were  found  dead  in  his  bed  some  fine  morning 
— an  event  not  at  all  impossible  in  such  a  community 
as  this.  The  adherents  of  the  Queen  could  be  hired  for 
such  work,  or.  if  not,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to 
place  the  taking  off  of  the  young  man  at  their  doors." 

"Don't,  don't  talk  in  that  way."  she  said,  with  a  shud 
der.  "The  thought  of  blood  makes  me  faint." 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  41 

"Then  I  shall  not  refer  to  it  again.  You  look  weary, 
and  need  rest.  Go  to  bed,  and  in  the  morning  call  on 
Her  Majesty.  Agree  to  anything  and  everything  but 
the  actual  performance  of  the  marriage  ceremony  with 
Kohala.  I  can  see,  if  you  do  not,  exactly  why  the  Queen 
is  so  eager  to  have  you  Kohala's  wife.  Now,  good-night 
and  pleasant  dreams,  little  girl." 

Featherstone  drew  her  to  his  side,  brought  her  passive 
head  to  his  broad  breast  and  kissed  her.  But  even  after 
he  withdrew  she  stood  for  some  minutes  as  if  in  a  trance, 
and  the  lines  about  her  eyes  and  mouth  were  as  those  of 
an  old  woman. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

• 

THE   INFERNO   OF   HAWAII. 

IN  the  southeast  corner  of  the  great  island  of  Hawaii, 
after  which  the  whole  group  of  islands  is  named,  there 
is  the  most  wonderful  if  not  the  most  famous  volcano 
in  the  world — Kilauea — pronounced  Kil-awe-ee-ah.  It 
is  a  vast  lake  of  fire  far  up  among  the  clouds,  and  on  its 
scorching  shores  the  molten  waves  break  at  times  like 
the  phosphorescent  rollers  over  the  coral  reefs  that  en 
circle  the  island. 

The  sun  had  dropped  behind  great  banks  of  naming 
clouds,  that  looked  as  if  they  had  caught  in  their  huge 
folds  the  reflection  of  the  mighty  crater,  when  bands  of 
natives  could  be  seen  coming  up  from  Hilo  and  the  many 
emerald  valleys  about  to  the  blistering  sconia  banks  that 
surrounded  the  surging  lake  of  fire. 


42  KOHAL.A   OF    HAWAII. 

Although  the  Hawaiians  ordinarily  dress  like  the 
Americans  of  their  class,  on  this  occasion  each  man 
and  woman  wore  the  picturesque  native  costume.  The 
men  carried  spears  tipped  with  the  serrated  teeth  of  the 
shark,  and  their  helmets  were  decorated  with  the  brig] it 
plumage  of  paroquettes.  They  wore  sandals  with  shark- 
hide  soles,  and  their  oval  shields,  ornamented  with  iri 
descent  shells,  were  of  the  same  tough  material. 

As  is  their  custom  when  they  meet  to  practice  the 
ancient  rites,  which  all  the  pleadings  of  the  missionaries 
have  not  induced  them  wholly  to  relinquish,  the  women 
wore  robes  of  colored  grass,  of  the  shape  and  woven,  in 
the  patterns  of  the  Scottish  kilt.  The  raven  hair,  hang 
ing  loose  down  their  shoulders,  looked  blacker  in  con 
trast  with  the  crimson  blossoms  with  which  it  was 
intertwined,  while  great  wreaths  of  wildflowers  took  the 
place  of  jackets  about  the  bronzed  necks  and  shoulders. 

As  the  young  women  advanced,  they  sang,  as  if  unmind 
ful  of  the  steep  ascent,  and  formed  a  body-guard  about 
one  who  seemed  to  be  the  youngest  and  most  beautiful, 
as  she  surely  was  the  most  honored,  of  the  troop.  This 
was  Leila,  daughter  of  Keona,  the  hereditary  chief  of 
the  great  island  of  Hawaii.  Leila  looked  beautiful  when 
seen  in  evening-dress  at  the  last  "ball  given  by  the  Queen 
in  Honolulu ;  but  in  her  native  attire  she  appeared  far 
more  radiant  and  captivating,  nor  was  this  costume  a 
greater  strain  on  her  innate  modesty. 

The  inner  rim  of  the  great  crater  is  honeycombed  with 
volcanic  caves.  Some  of  these,  particularly  near  the  sea 
of  fire,  are  of  recent  origin,  and  are  continually  changing 
their  forms,  or  are  being  destroyed  and  replaced  by 
others  equally  weird  and  fantastic.  Near  the  outer  rim 
of  the  crater,  at  certain  points,  there  are  igneous  caverns 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  43 

of  great  extent  that  have  not  changed  materially  since 
the  days  of  which  tradition  tells,  when  the  whole  island 
was  for  a  time  one  vast  cone  of  fire,  whose  heaven-reach 
ing  torch  dimmed  the  splendor  of  the  cloudless  sun  at 
high  noon. 

Time  out  of  mind  one  of  these  ancient  caverns,  that 
might  have  served  as  a  chamber  for  Vulcan,  has  been 
used  as  a  council  chamber  by  the  chiefs  of  Hawaii.  Here 
the  great  Kamehameha  announced  his  purpose  to  his 
warriors  before  he  began  the  campaign  that  resulted 
in  subduing  all  the  islands  to  his  sway.  Here  the  chiefs 
of  Hawaii  had  been  married  since  long  before  the  com 
ing  of  Captain  Cook,  and  here  the  Chief  Keona  had 
met  his  f ollowers  in  council  when  the  increasing  aggres 
sions  of  the  white  men  or  the  imbecility  and  vices  of 
their  own  rulers  threatened  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

Keona  of  Hawaii  was  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  tall 
and  finely  formed,  as  are  ever  the  high-class  natives,  and 
with  a  bearing  and  physiognomy  that  denoted  unusual 
strength  and  activity  and  the  heaven-given  power  to 
command. 

Keona,  seated  on  a  lava  block,  that  looked  like  a 
Titan's  throne  by  the  light  of  the  many  shell  lamps  that 
illuminated  the  cave,  was  dressed  in  the  barbaric  but 
becoming  feather  robes  of  gold-bronze,  such  as  his  war 
like  ancestors  ever  wore  in  council.  About  him  were 
fivescore  or  more  men,  all  carrying  spears  and  shields, 
and  all  showing  by  the  serious  expression  on  their 
swarthy  faces  that  business  of  unusual  importance  was 
to  be  transacted  to-night. 

The  chief  and  his  followers  were  talking  in  low,  earn 
est  tones  when,  suddenly,  like  music  from  the  sky,  that 
was  re-echoed  with  thrilling  effect  in  the  depths  of  the 


44  KOHALA   OP    HAWAII. 

cavern,   the  song  of  the  Hawaiian   maidens  could  be 
heard,  and  then  the  men  became  silent — 

"Fringing  with  crimson  crest 

Those  watch-towers  of  the  west, 
Which  lift  their  cold,  gray  battlements  on  high. 

The  monarch  of  the  day 

Veils  his  last  lingering  ray, 
And  sinks  to  rest  o'er  far-off  Waianse. 

' '  No  sound  is  on  the  shore 

Save  reef-bound  breakers'  roar, 
Or  distant  boatsman's  song,  or  seabird's  cry ; 

And  hushed  the  inland  bay 

In  stillness,  far  away 
Like  phantoms  rise  the  hills  of  Waianse. 

4i  Ghosts  of  each  act  and  thought 

Which  the  dead  day  has  wrought, 
The  misty  twilight  shadows  silent  fly 

To  burial,  'neath  the  pall 

Of  'past'  beyond  recall, 
Which  falls  with  night  o'er  silent  Waianae." 

With  Leila  in  their  midst,  the  girls  advanced  through 
the  open  ranks,  and  when  within  twenty  feet  of  him 
Keona  descended  and  led  his  daughter  to  a  seat  by  his 
side.  This  appeared  to  be  a  signal,  for  at  once  the  wo 
men  began  a  song  that  had  to  it  a  more  martial  ring, 
and  to  its  stirring  measure  the  warriors  kept  perfect 
time  by  beating  their  spears  against  their  resonant 
shields. 

The  last  notes  of  this  song  were  still  echoing  down  the 
cavern  when  a  series  of  shrill  cries,  that  might  well 
have  alarmed  people  riot  expecting  them,  came  from 
the  profound  and  stygian  depths  beyond. 

Neither  the  chief  nor  those  about  him  seemed  startled. 
nor  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  sound  as  it  came  nearer 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  45 

and  swelled  out  in  shriller  and  more  piercing  notes.  At 
length,  a  band  of  three  old  men  and  three  old  women, 
dressed  in  robes  of  rattling  reeds,  and  with  huge  gray 
wigs  of  dried  seaweeds  on  their  heads,  appeared  before 
the  chief  and  his  daughter,  and  prostrated  themselves 
at  his  feet,  and  so  remained  till  he  told  them  to  rise. 

These  were  the  Kahinas,  or  sorcerers  of  the  island, 
people  with  prophetic  powers  who  could  pierce  the  veil 
of  the  future  and  tell  all  that  was  to  be,  though  their 
prophecies,  like  those  of  the  oracles  of  an  older  and 
more  cultured  people,  were  invariably  enigmatical,  and 
were  capable  of  the  most  opposite  interpretations, 

One  of  these  Kahinas  was  a  man  who  looked  to  be 
older,  as  he"certainly  was  more  hideous,  than  any  of  his 
companions.  He  stood  closer  to  the  chief  than  the 
others,  as  became  the  rank  of  the  oldest  priest  on  all 
the  islands.  Addressing  him,  Keona  asked : 

"Can  Helna  tell  us  why  tarries  our  king?" 

"We  have  no  king,  alas !"  replied  the  old  man,  and 
he  emphasized  the  exclamation  by  raising  his  long- 
wand  and  letting  the  end  fall  to  the  rocky  floor  with 
a  metallic  ring,  an  example  followed,  like  a  chorus,  by 
the  other  Kahinas. 

"But  Hawaii  shall  soon  have  a  king !"  said  Keona. 

"We  shall  soon  have  a  king!"  shouted  the  warriors, 
and  the  girls  threw  back  their  long  black  tresses,  and 
chanted : 

"We  shall  soon  have  a  king !" 

"Where  is  Kohala?"  asked  the  chief. 

"He  is  here,"  said  Helna. 

The  old  sorcerer  raised  to  his  lips  a  shell  bugle,  which 
he  carried  fastened  to  his  girdle,  and  blew  a  long,  shrill 
blast,  that  went  echoing  down  through  the  cave  as  if  a 


46  KOHAfcA   OF    HAWAII. 

thousand  mystic  buglers  were  prolonging  the  notes,  with 
an  ever-decreasing  force,  in  the  far-off  depths. 

A  brief  silence,  then  the  quick  fall  of  hurrying  feet 
could  be  heard  coming  up  as  if  from  lower  depths. 
Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  tramping,  then  a  song  of 
triumph  burst  from  the  lips  of  unseen  men.  A  flash 
of  flambeaux  banished  the  stygian  blackness  behind. 
Then  men  came  to  view,  shaking  their  torches  till 
the  place  seemed  rilled  with  a  rain  of  fire.  These 
people  were  dressed  as  warriors,  and  in  their  midst, 
with  a  corona  of  crimson  feathers  on  his  head  and  a 
yellow  mantle  that  flashed  like  gold  over  his  shoulders, 
was  Kohala.  the  sole  descendant  of  the  great  King 
Kamehameha,  who,  in  this  very  chamber,  had  begun 
his  career  of  triumph. 

When  Leila  sa\v  the  young  man  the  color  deepened 
on  her  olive  cheeks,  and  she  would  have  risen  as  her 
father  had  done  had  he  not  bent  over  her  and  whis 
pered  : 

"She  who  is  to  be  the  Queen  of  Hawaii  need  not  rise 
in  any  presence." 

At  sight  of  the  youth  whom  they  regarded  as  their 
rightful  king  the  men  broke  into  a  cheer,  or,  rather, 
a  long,  shrill  shout,  that  resembled  the  cries  of  startled 
eagles. 

Keona,  descended  from  the  seat.  and.  catching  Kohala 
to  his  breast,  he  kissed  him  on  both  cheeks,  and,  still 
holding  him  in  his  strong  embrace,  he  turned  his  face 
to  the  people  and  cried  out : 

"I  told  you  that  one  day  I  should  show  you  your  king. 
Behold  !  Kohaki.,  from  wandering  through  all  lands.  Juts 
come  back  to  Hawaii,  the  home  of  his  heart,  and  he  will 
leave  us  never  again.' 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  47 

Again  the  cheering  broke  out,  the  spears  were  beaten 
against  the  shields  and  the  torch-bearers  shook  their 
brands  till  all  seemed  deluged  in  a  golden  rain. 

"I  am  not  the  king  of  Hawaii,  but  I  am  better:  I  am 
a  Hawaiian,  who  loves  his  home  and  his  people,  and 
who  is  ready,  if  need  be,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  both," 
said  Kohala,  in  a  voice  that  all  could  hear,  while  the 
warmth  of  his  reception  and  the  barbaric  surroundings 
stirred  in  his  heart  the  latent  spirit  of  his  ancestors,  and 
brought  the  blood  in  darker  waves  to  his  cheeks  and 
kindled  a  heroic  light  in  the  great  black  eyes. 

The  young  man  bowed  to  Leila,  whom  he  now  saw  for 
tho  first  time  since  his  entrance,  and  the  look  of  sudden 
and  transitory  pain  that  flitted  over  his  handsome  face 
may  have  passed  unnoticed  by  others,  but  it  did  not  es 
cape  the  keen  gaze  of  the  old  sorcerer,  Helna. 

Yielding  to  the  many  arms  that  fairly  lifted  him  up, 
Kohala  stood  before  Leila,  kissed  her  hand  with  the 
gallantry  of  a  medieval  knight,  and  then,  in  obedience 
to  the  request — it  seemed  like  a  command — of  Keona, 
he  sat  down  beside  the  beautiful  girl. 

"When  Kohala  weds  Leila,  the  daughter  of  Keona  of 
Hawaii,  then  shall  he  be  crowned  and  placed  on  the 
throne  now  disgraced  by  her  who  calls  herself  'Queen'  at 
Honolulu!"  called  out  Helna,  who  felt  that  he  might 
venture  on  that  prophecy  with  perfect  safety. 

And  to  the  people  who  heard  him,  and  who  all  believed 
the  same  thing  before  he  had  spoken,  Helna  was  more 
than  ever  the  most  wonderful  Kahina  Hawaii  had  ever 
seen. 

"We  have  met  to-night,"  said  Keona,  addressing  him 
self  to  Kohala  and  to  his  eager-faced  followers,  "not 
to  see  the  wedding  of  <i  jprince  nor  the  crowning  of  a 


48  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII, 

king — though  they  will  speedily  follow  to-night's  work 
— but  to  welcome  him  who  is  to  be  our  ruler,  and  to  see 
him,  as  we  now  do,  seated  beside  her  to  whom  he  was 
betrothed  when  a  boy  and  while  yet  his  father  lived. 
I  have  heard  wild  stories  about  Kohala's  admiration  for 
women  whose  skins  are  whiter  than  is  Leila's  of  Hawaii ; 
but  it  troubles  me  not,  for  I  knew  that  the  son  of  such  a 
father  could  never  break  his  father's  word.  To-night  we 
would  learn  the  plans  of  Kohala.  assuring  him  that  with 
our  lives  we  stand  ready  to  carry  them  out." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LOVE   OR  PATRIOTISM— WHICH? 

THE  men  and  the  maidens  and  the  weird  Kahinas 
gathered  about  the  volcanic  throne  on  which  Kohala 
and  Leila  were  seated  thought,  nor  took  pains  to  hide 
their  thoughts,  that  they  had  never  seen  two  such  beau 
tiful  young  people  before. 

The  bronzed  cheeks  of  Keona  were  aglow,  and  the 
fire  of  pride  and  triumph  burned  in  his  keen  black  eyes, 
for  the  act  on  which  all  his  hopes  centered  since  the 
birth  of  his  daughter  was  soon  to  be  consummated.  Nor 
"was  it  paternal  ambition  alone  that  moved  him.  At 
heart,  he  was  a  patriot.  Too  circumscribed  in  his  en 
vironment  to  look  upon  all  men  as  his  brothers,  all  the 
love  of  his  strong  nature  was  concentrated  on  his  own 
people;  and,  to  make  them  free  and  independent,  he 
would  have  seen  with  delight  the  last  white  man  dead 
or  banished  from  Hawaii. 

"Friends  and  a  feast  await  us  by  the  shore!"  called 


KOHALA    OF    HAWAII.  49 

out  the  old  priest,  Helna.  "Let  our  king  make  his 
pledge  before  all  the  chiefs  ere  we  leave  this  the  sacred 
temple  of  Hawaii." 

At  a  signal  from  the  old  Kahina,  Kohala  rose,  am] 
Leila,  in  obedience  to  her  father's  gesture,  did  the  same, 

"Kohala,  son  of  the  conqueror,"  said  Helna,  in  a  low; 
solemn  voice,  while  Keona  and  all  the  people  crossed 
their  hands  on  their  breasts  and  bowed  their  heads,  "are 
you  ready  to  keep  the  vows  your  father  made  to  all  our 
people  in  your  behalf?" 

The  young  man  hesitated,  and  swallowed  an  invisible 
lump.  He  cast  a  quick,  nervous  glance  at  the  beautiful 
girl  by  his  side,  then  said,  with  an  effort  and  in  a  voice 
that  seemed  strange  to  himself : 

"I  am." 

"Then  you  have  not  been  changed  by  living  in  the 
land  of  the  whites? "said  Helna. 

"My  love  for  Hawaii  and  for  the  people  of  my  race 
has  grown  stronger, ' '  said  Kohala,  with  more  confidence. 
"Yet  am  I  changed  from  a  simple-minded  boy  to  a  man 
who  has  learned  the  secret  of  the  white  man's  power, 
and  who  is  ready  to  use  that  knowledge  for  the  good  of 
his  own  people." 

A  murmur  of  approval  went  up  from  the  groups  about 
the  great  volcanic  rock  on  which  Kohala  stood,  and  the 
men  raised  their  faces. 

"Our  people  look  to  you  to  bring  them  light  in  this 
the  day  of  their  great  doubt  and  darkness;  are  you 
ready?" 

"I  am." 

"And  you  will  marry  Leila,  the  pearl  of  Hawaii,  and 
wrest  from  the  impostor  the  throne  of  your  fathers?" 
said  Helna. 


50  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

It  was  well  for  Kohala  that  this  was  a  double  question. 
His  was  not  a  nature  to  be  indifferent  to  the  rare  advan 
tages  of  the  beautiful  girl  by  his  side.  He  knew  and 
felt  that  in  every  physical  grace  she  was  not  only  the 
peer,  btft  vastly  the  superior  of  the  white  woman  who 
had  gained  such  an  irresistible  mastery  over  his  heart ; 
yet  the  full  knowledge  of  this  fact  intensified  rather  than 
weakened  his  love  for  Marguerite  Holmes. 

Hawaii,  with  the  woman  of  his  heart,  would  be 
heaven;  without  her,  any  and  every  condition  would 
be  torture.  He  realized  his  own  helplessness.  He  felt 
that  his  love  was  a  chain  bearing  him  down  and  weak 
ening  his  manhood  at  the  very  time  when  he  needed 
more  strength ;  yet  he  would  not  have  forgotten  his  idol 
if  he  could,  nor  have  been  free  from  her  magic  spell  if 
in  his  power. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  last  of  the  old  Kahina's  ques 
tions,  Kohala  replied : 

"I  believe  in  rulers  chosen  by  the  people  who  are  to 
be  ruled ;  but  my  life  among  the  whites  has  given  me 
a  contempt  for  kings  who  claim  that  the  gods  have 
chosen  them  for  such  a  mission.  The  Queen  of  Hawaii 
is  not  the  choice  of  our  people.  She  regards  the  throne 
as  her  private  property,  so  that  if  she  were,  as  I  am,  the 
descendant  of  the  great  King  Kamehameha,  still  should 
I  oppose  her,  still  should  I  demand  that  she  do  right  by 
yielding  what  she  was  wrong  in  accepting.  So  sure  am 
I  that  the  people  should  elect  their  own  rulers  that  I 
will  not  insist  on  my  claims  that  are  just  as  a  birthright. 
The  people  of  Hawaii,  the  people  of  our  race,  who  are 
the  rightful  owners  of  the  land,  must  by  their  votes  say 
who  it  is  they  want  to  have  rule  over  them,  and  if  it  be 
another  than  myself  I  will  show  my  faith  in  my  own 


KOHALA   OP    HAWAII.  51 

counsel  by  yielding  the  earliest  and  most  continued 
obedience." 

Keona  and  his  daughter,  of  all  the  people  present, 
were  the  only  ones  who  fully  comprehended  Kohala's 
reply,  and  it  was  evident  from  the  expression  of  the 
chief  that  he  did  not  indorse  the  views  of  the  regal 
young  republican.  He  was  still  moved  by  the  old  tra 
ditions  as  to  rank ;  he  was  himself  a  chief  by  right  of 
birth,  and  a  greater  right  than  that  was  beyond  his  com 
prehension.  Yet  he  had  the  wisdom  to  see  that  where 
the  people  might  be  divided  as  to  the  choice  of  a  ruler, 
as  they  certainly  were  in  Hawaii,  that  it  would  add  to 
the  security  of  Kohala's  throne  if  a  majority  of  the 
people  indicated  him  as  their  choice. 

"It  shall  be  even  as  Kohala  says,"  called  out  the  chief. 
"With  the  morrow's  sun  I  will  dispatch  young  men  who 
can  read  and  write  to  all  the  islands,  and  they  shall  find 
who  is  the  choice  of  the  people.  This  we  shall  do  to 
please  Kohala,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  re 
sult.  But  when  he  is  our  king— and  he  surely  will  be 
— he  will  hold  us  the  stronger  to  him  the  more  he  ig 
nores  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  whites.  Our  motto 
must  be :  'A  king  of  our  own,  and  Hawaii  for  the  Ha- 
waiians ! '  " 

This  was  said  with  a  fire  and  an  energy  that  were 
contagious,  and  when  the  chief  turned  to  the  faces  of 
the  people  about  him  he  saw  a  new  light  in  the  eyes 
of  the  men,  who  gave  expression  to  their  approval  in 
a  cheer  that  echoed  down  the  cavern  depths  for  fully 
a  minute  after. 

"Kohala  will  give  his  heart  to  the  wishes  of  his  people  ; 
that  we  know,  and  that  the  people  believe,  and  so  will 
they  give  him  their  faith,  and,  if  need  be,  their  lives. 


52  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

We  shall  know  all  when  the  next  full  moon  rises  over 
Hawaii ;  then  we  shall  meet  here  to  greet  the  king  and 
his  queen,  and  our  boats  will  be  ready  to  take  them,  as 
befits  their  rank,  to  the  palace  at  Honolulu.  Now  let 
us  descend  to  the  shore  where  other  friends  await  us 
with  a  feast/' 

So  spoke  Helna,  who,  in  addition  to  his  priestly  duties, 
acted  as  master  of  ceremonies  to  the  great  chief  Keona, 
to  whom  he  was  warmly  attached. 

Fresh  torches  were  lit,  and  the  Kahinas  took  the  ad 
vance  ;  then  came  the  girls,  with  Leila  in  their  midst, 
while  the  men  with  spears  formed  in  advance  of  and  to 
the  rear  of  the  chief  and  Kohala ;  and  so  the  procession 
went  down  to  the  shore,  but  not  as  the  people  had  come. 

By  a  descent,  sometimes  steep,  and  again  as  smooth 
and  hard  and  glistening  as  a  floor  of  polished  steel,  the 
Kahinas  led  the  way  through  the  rocky  cavern.  The 
torches  flashed  on  black  side  chambers,  like  cells  set 
in  the  walls  of  a  mighty  prison,  or  they  turned  to  blood 
the  subterranean  streams  that  crossed  or  ran  along  their 
course. 

The  way  was  familiar  to  every  person  but  Kohala, 
who  had  not  visited  the  cavern  since  he  was  a  child  of 
seven,  and  then  it  was  to  be  betrothed  to  the  infant 
daughter  of  the  chief. 

It  was  well  that  etiquette  required  the  young  man  to 
keep  silent  as  he  went  down  through  the  sacred,  black 
depths,  for  his  heart  was  anxious  and  full,  but  not  with 
the  cares  of  Hawaii. 

At  length  from  the  far  front  there  came  the  dull 
booming,  as  of  distant  guns,  accompanied  by  a  ceaseless 
roar  that  might  have  shook  steadier  nerves  than  those 
of  the  Hawaiians  had  they  not  known,  that  the  booming 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  53 

was  caused  by  the  fall  of  the  breakers  on  the  barrier 
reef  and  the  roar  by  the  ceaseless  flow  and  recession  of 
the  waves  on  the  shell-lined  shore. 

The  exit  from  the  cave  was  guarded  by  a  regiment  of 
plume-crowned  palms,  over  which  the  moon,  now  at  its 
full,  poured  a  peaceful,  silvery  light  that  added  to  the 
calm  grandeur  of  the  scene. 

As  soon  as  the  procession  came  into  the  light  the  men 
to  the  rear  sent  up  a  long,  shrill  shout,  that  was  an 
swered  by  another  and  a  more  prolonged  shout  by  men 
in  the  direction  of  the  shore,  along  which  a  number  of 
fires,  like  blazing  fountains,  sent  plumes  of  flame  into 
the  Sky. 

Then  the  companions  of  Leila  began  to  sing : 

"  Hail  to  the  king  and  his  bride. 
Men  of  the  hills  and  the  sea, 
Kohala  has  come  from  the  white  land 
To  the  green  vales  of  fair  Hawaii. ' ' 

Fully  two  thousand  men  and  women  were  gathered 
about  the  fires  on  the  shore,  and  the  swarms  of  out 
rigger  canoes  drawn  up  on  the  beach  told  how  a  ma 
jority  of  the  people  must  have  come. 

They  had  prepared  a  great  feast  in  honor  of  the  king, 
for  such  they  now  regarded  Kohala.  Meats  and  fish, 
vegetables  and  fruit,  and  the  national  dish,  "poi."  all 
crowned  with  flowers,  as  were  the  lithe  maidens  who 
served  the  banquet,  found  sharp  appetites  to  appreciate 
them ;  but  the  honored  guest — and,  it  may  be,  Leila — 
were  the  only  persons  present  who  did  not  enjoy  the 
feast. 

Finely  woven  mats,  spread  on  the  ground  and  bordered 
by  flowers,  served  as  tables ;  and  tea  was  handed  round 


54  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

in  fancifully  carved  cocoanut-shells.  It  was  a  native 
banquet,  plus  many  things  unknown  till  the  coming 
of  the  whites. 

The  eating  was  accompanied  with  songs  and  shouts  of 
laughter,  and  many  of  the  jests  directed  by  the  girls  at 
Leila  were  so  personal,  though  invariably  pleasant,  that 
the  beautiful  girl  was  kept  in  a  state  of  blushing  agita 
tion. 

As  soon  as  the  feast  was  over  the  older  men  lit  their 
pipes  and  drew  back  some  distance  so  as  to  leave  a  wide, 
open  space  between  them  and  the  fires.  Back  of  these 
the  young  men  stood  up  with  their  shields  on  their  left 
arms  and  their  right  hands  grasping  their  spears  about 
the  center. 

Kohala  and  Keona,  with  Leila  between  them,  sat  on 
a  raised  seat  that  looked  like  a  bank  of  gorgeous  flowers, 
and  back  of  them  were  brilliant  groups  of  women,  all 
blossom-crowned  and  all  showing  by  their  display  of 
white  teeth  and  flashing  black  eyes  their  intense  en 
joyment  of  the  occasion. 

In  Hawaii,  as  in  all  the  Pacific  Islands  to  the  south, 
jdancing  is  a  part  of  every  religious  and  festal  gathering, 
fit  is  said  that  Samra  and  New  Zealand  were  colonized 
/by  the  Hawaiians.  The  language,  folk-lore  and  customs 
common  to  all  would  indicate  a  common  ancestry ;  but, 
be  that  as  it  may,  the  dancing  of  the  "hoola"  girls,  as 
the  young  women  skilled  in  the  graceful  art  are  called, 
is  as  popular  in  Hawaii  to-day  as  it  was  when  the  natives 
welcomed  and  entertained  Captain  Cook  more  than  a 
century  ago. 

As  soon  as  the  space  was  cleared  before  the  great  cen 
tral  fire  a  band  of  twoscore  girls,  crowned  and  draped 
with  flowers  till  they  resemble*1  animated  bouquets, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII,  55 

sprang  with  airy  grace  into  the  opening,  saluted  Kohala 
and  the  chief,  and  then,  at  a  signal  given  by  the  clap 
ping  of  the  leader's  hands,  the  wonderful  dance  began. 

The  music  was  supplied  by  the  singing  of  a  group  of 
women  seated  on  the  ground,  and  the  changes  in  the 
graceful  mazes  were  made  to  the  rhythmic  beating  of 
the  spears  on  the  shields. 

In  addition  to  being  an  exquisite  dance,  such  as  would 
have  made  the  fame  and  fortune  of  the  maitre  de  ballet 
who  could  have  produced  it  on  the  stage,  this  was  also 
a  most  expressive  pantomime.  The  ardor  of  the  lover 
and  the  coyness  of  the  maiden  were  pictured  with  an 
excellence  and  delicacy  that  amounted  to  art.  The 
jealousy  of  rivals,  the  opposition  of  friends,  the  secret 
meetings,  the  agony  of  parting,  and  then  the  elope 
ment,  the  capture,  the  reconciliation  and  the  mar 
riage,  were  all  depicted  in  a  way  that  could  not  have 
been  made  more  poetic  and  dramatic  by  the  use  of 
words. 

Leila  gradually  lost  her  self-consciousness  and  be 
came  enraptured  with  the  scene.  The  pearly  teeth 
flashed  through  the  parted  carnation  of  her  lips.  Her 
long-lashed  black  eyes  were  aglow,  and,  forgetting 
herself  in  the  excitement  of  the  occasion,  she  added 
her  voice  to  those  of  the  singing  women  at  her  feet. 

Now  and  then  she  shot  a  glance  at  the  face  of  the 
young  man  seated  by  her  side,  and  she  wondered  that 
he  could  be  so  cold  and  impassive  amid  such  a  glow 
of  joyous  excitement.  How  could  she  know  that  his 
thoughts  were  with  his  heart  in  the  cottage  of  the  white 
woman  at  Honolulu? 


56  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

OPENING  THE  EYES  OF  LOVE. 

COLONEL  ELLIS  had  been  a  resident  of  Hawaii  since  the 
close  of  the  great  war  in  his  own  land.  His  forethought 
and  energy  had  made  him  rich ;  but  while  this  was  the 
purpose  of  his  voluntary  exile,  he  regarded  as  his  own 
the  rights  of  the  natives  of  Hawaii. 

The  indifference  of  the  Queen  to  the  moral  standards 
that  prevail  in  cultured  communities,  her  weakness  in 
yielding  to  the  influence  of  selfish  favorites  and  her  fierce 
defiance  of  the  constitutional  restraints  that  environed 
the  throne  were  seen  and  their  consequences  appre 
ciated  by  Colonel  Ellis  before  others,  who  were  equally 
involved  in  the  consequences,  dreamed  of  their  danger. 

It  was  Colonel  Ellis  who  induced  Kohala  to  spend  six 
years  at  school  in  America  and  Europe.  It  was  Colonel 
Ellis  who  cared  for  the  young  man's  estates  and  made 
them  as  productive  and  profitable  as  his  own ;  and  it  was 
the  colonel  who  early  instilled  into  the  mind  of  the  youth 
those  principles  of  republicanism  that  gave  him  such  a 
contempt  for  hereditary  rulers. 

Colonel  Ellis  aijd  the  men  associated  with  him  had 
fully  resolved  to  check  the  mad  course  of  the  Queen  by 
making  vacant  the  throne ;  but  they  had  the  wisdom  to 
see  that  a  native  figure  of  some  kind  must  be  kept  on  or 
near  that  ornamental  seat,  so  as  to  appease  the  feelings 
of  the  Hawaiians. 

With  Kohala  in  power,  Colonel  Ellis  saw  that  Hawaii 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII,  57 

would  be  practically  republican,  and  that  he  could, 
through  the  influence  of  this  young  man,  bring  the 
natives  to  his  way  of  thinking,  and  in  time  make  real 
his  dream  of  annexation  to  the  land  from  which  lie  had 

himself  been  so  long  an  exile. 

• 

It  had  been  decided  by  the  Americans  that  if  the  mar 
riage  of  Kohala  could  be  made  to  play  a  part  in  the 
drama  now  on  the  stage  at  Honolulu  it  would  be  good 
diplomacy  and  sound  statesmanship  to  have  him  marry 
the  Princess  Kaiulani,  then  at  school  in  England,  and 
whom  Queen  Liliuokalani  had  selected  to  succeed  herself 
on  the  tli  rone. 

There  appeared  to  be  one  thing  on  which  all  the  friends 
and  foes  of  Kohala  were  agreed,  and  that  was  that  he 
would  serve  their  purpose  better  by  marrying  some  one 
at  once. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  natives  who  opposed  the  Queen 
and  who  were  led  by  Keona,  regarded  his  marriage  with 
Leila,  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Hawaii,  as  practically 
settled.  Many  of  the  Americans  were  anxious,  for 
reasons  of  State  policy,  that  he  should  marry  the  half- 
bred  schoolgirl  Kaiulani,  who  must  come  at  once  from 
England  for  that  purpose,  though  they  would  not  seri 
ously  object  to  Leila. 

The  Queen  was  resolved  that  Kohala  should  marry  the 
Englishwoman,  Marguerite  Holmes,  for  she  well  knew 
that  such  a  course  would  mean  his  own  political  sui 
cide,  and  hers  was  the  one  scheme  that  entirely  met  the 
young  man's  approval. 

The  English  were  not  so  much  interested  in  the  young 
man's  marriage  as  that  he  should  be  induced  to  raise  the 
banner  of  revolt  and  declare  himself  king,  when  their 
Government  could  step  in  as  a  peacemaker  between  the 


58  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

rivals,  and,  seizing  the  islands  till  the  quarrel  could  be 
adjusted,  see  to  it  that  it  never  was  adjusted  and  the 
hold  never  released. 

f  Among  all  these  diverse  factions  the  English,  though 
working  quietly  and  out  of  sight,  stood  the  best  chance 
of  success,  for  they  had  enlisted  on  their  side  Marguerite 
Holmes,  the  one  person  to  whose  will  and  wishes  Kohala, 
since  their  first  meeting,  had  ever  yielded  implicit  obedi 
ence. 

Colonel  Ellis  was  not  the  man  to  win  a  point  at  the  ex 
pense  of  a  good  woman's  character;  but,  like  all  manly, 
honest  men,  he  loathed,  above  all  things,  that  unsexed 
creature — the  woman  adventurer.  He  believed,  from 
the  moment  he  first  heard  of  her,  that  Marguerite 
Holmes  was  of  this  character,  and  he  resolved  to  ex 
pose  her;  but  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  he  made  up  his 
mind,  first,  to  learn  for  himself  what  manner  of  wo 
man  she  was,  and  if  she  were  purchasable,  as  he  be 
lieved,  to  make  it  worth  her  while  to  leave  the  islands 
quietly  and  without  telling  Kohala.  If  she  should  re 
fuse  to  do  this,  he  and  his  friends  must  be  in  a  position 
to  open  Kohala's  eyes  so  that  not  even  his  unreasoning 
love  could  blind  him  to  the  character  of  the  woman  for 
whose  uncertain  and  wavering  affections  he  had  been 
so  ready  to  barter  away  his  own  splendid  future  and  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  Hawaiians  whom  he  so 
loved. 

To  carry  out  his  purpose  Colonel  Ellis  secured  an  in 
troduction  to  Mrs.  Holmes,  through  his  friend,  Dr.  Wal 
lace,  who  was  well  known  as  one  of  the  little  widow's 
most  ardent  admirers. 

Marguerite  Holmes  had  heard  of  Colonel  Ellis,  She 
knew  he  was  a  widower,  and  the  richest  man  on  the 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  59 

islands:  hot  the  fact  that  he  was  a  man  would  have 
been  to  her  sufficient  reason  for  treating  him  with  all 
consideration,  ami  bringing  him  under  the  control  of 
her  witchery. 

After  his  introduction..  Colonel  rTflis  asked  for  leave  to 
call  on  3<Xrs.  Holmes,  and  she  graciously  consented.  He 
was  a  man  of  the  world,  and,  withaL  a  knightly  admirer 
of  the  s*^c.  and  so  he  saw  that  to  win  he  must  appear  to 
come  under  her  influence,  as  others  had  doner  yet  he  was 
not  the  man  to  permit  himself  to  be  seriously  influenced 
by  a  designing  woman,  such  as  he  believed  Mrs.  Holmes 
to  lie. 

He  called  the  day  after  his  introduction,  and  found 

Mrs.  Holmes  dressed  in  dainty  fashion  for  the  street, 

when  she  always  looked  her  best.     She  was.  delighted  to 

meet  him  again,  and  the  expression  in  the  long-lashed 

rid  the  musical  voice  confirmed  her  words. 

She  sat.  facing  him  in  the  little  flower-decorated  bou 
doir,,  and  would  have  discussed  the  weather  and  other 
trite  matters  in  her  graceful  fashion  had  not  the  colonel, 
with  an  effort  that  was  evident,  come  at  once  to  the  pur 
pose  of  his  visit. 

"Mrs.  HI  -  lie>  began,  "we  are  threatened  witli 
::••  Y.'  '.-•-.  :ue  tin  -  Ln  H  bwaii,  t  .  I  y  a  an  I  alj  '  '  ring 
them  abootr  or  yoa  can  do  much  to  pee  vent  them. 

-lie  exclaimed,  and  she  laid  her  index  finger  on 
:".-.-  rii-.:  :  tier  '  ecoming  violet  '  omet.  Snrdtf  7  •  ire 
mistaken.  Colonel  Ellis.  What  influence  for  weal  or 
•woe  can  a  poor  little  nobody  like  myself  have  on  the 
afiairs  of  Hawaii?" 

"A  great  deal.  Mis.  Holiaes."*  was  the  serioos  response. 

"Bat  in  what  way;'   she  asi-ed.  with  increasing  sor- 

:  1-L.--. 


60  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

"You  will  not  think  me  rude  if  I  am  entirely  frank?" 

"I  cannot  imagine  Colonel  Ellis  being  rude." 

"Thanks.  I  certainly  do  not  mean  to  be.  But  first,  a 
question  or  two,  which  you  need  not  answer  if  you  have 
anything  to  conceal." 

"A  thousand  questions,  if  you  will,'* 

"You  are  an  Englishwoman?" 

"I  am." 

"Alone  in  Honolulu?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you  know  the  man  they  call  Captain  Feather- 
stone?" 

"I  have  that  honor,"  she  said,  more  coldly. 

"If  you  are  his  friend  it  may  be  well  for  you  to  know 
that  this  Captain  Featherstone's  conduct  is  not  unknown 
to  the  men  who  have  the  interests  of  these  islands  at  heart, 
and  that  if  he  persists  in  his  present  course  he  may  have 
to  make  a  sudden  and  unexpected  exit." 

"Had  you  not  better  communicate  this  to  Captain 
Featherstone  himself?"  she  asked,  with  a  perceptible 
tremor  of  the  lips. 

"No;  when  we  come  to  speak  to  this  man  we  shall 
be  ready  to  act,  and  we  shall  act  in  no  mild  way.  He 
is  your  countryman,  and  from  his  visits  to  you  we 
must  believe  that  he  is,  at  least,  your  friend,  and  so 
the  warning  must  come  through  you ;  for,  to  be  candid 
with  you,  you  are  regarded  with  suspicion,"  said  Colonel 
Ellis,  with  the  manner  of  a  man  anxious  to  get  at  the 
heart  of  the  matter  at  once. 

Marguerite  Holmes's  face  was  usually  palid;  now  it 
grew  ashy,  and  a  startled  look  came  into  her  eyes,  yet 
she  managed  to  retain  her  composure,  as  she  asked : 

"What  have  I  done  to  excite  suspicion?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  61 

"At  such  times  as  these  everything  and  every  one  is 
apt  to  excite  the  suspicion  of  the  anxious.  Another  ques 
tion  :  Do  you  know  the  young  Hawaiian,  Kohala?" 

"I  do,"  she  replied. 

''Very  well?" 

"I  think  I  can  say :  Yes,  very  well." 

"And  you  are  his  friend?" 

"I  mean  to  be." 

"And  he  is  your  admirer?" 

"He  has,  unfortunately,  that  bad  taste,"  she  said ;  then, 
sitting  more  erect  and  looking  down  at  her  interlocked 
lingers,  incased  in  dark  kid  g  oves,  she  added  :  "But  my 
friends  and  my  likes  and  dislikes  should  be  my  own 
private  affair.5' 

"Ordinarily  I  should  say  you  were  quite  right,  but  it 
so  happens  that  your  friends  are  people  of  public  prom 
inence  in  Hawaii,  and  there  is  a  suspicion — whether 
well-founded  or  not  I  will  not  pretend  to  say — that 
you  and  this  Captain  Featherstone  are  trying  to  in 
fluence  Kohala  for  your  own  ends.  Permit  me  to  say, 
as  one  who  would  come  to  your  rescue  if  you  needed 
an  unselfish  friend,  that  in  trying  to  influence  Kohala 
to  become  a  tool  of  England's  diplomacy  you  are  work 
ing  for  his  ruin." 

"I  working  for  the  ruin  of  Kohala !"  she  exclaimed. 

"Yes,  quite  as  much  as  if  you  were  planning  his  mur 
der,"  responded  Colonel  Ellis. 

"May  I  ask  in  what  way?" 

"By  leading  him  to  believe  that  you  love  him  and  will 
marry  him." 

"And  pray  why  should  I  not  love  him  and  marry 
him  if  we  are  both  agreed?"  she  asked,  with  spirit. 

"Ordinarily  there  could  be  no  opposition  to  such  a 


62  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

course ;  but,  unfortunately  for  you.  Kohala  at  this  time 
does  not  belong  to  himself,  and,  unfortunately  for  him, 
you  are  virtually  engaged  to  this  adventurer  who  calls 
himself  Captain  Featherstone.  I  mean  no  offense.  What 
I  say  I  can  prove.  For  our  own  protection  we  Ameri 
cans  have  been  compelled  to  search  out  the  antecedents 
of  all  who  are  opposed  to  us  in  Hawaii ;  and  I  may  say 
that  we  understand  the  purpose  of  yourself  and  the  man 
with  whom  you  are  so  unfortunately  associated." 

Colonel  Ellis  did  not  look  at  her  while  he  was  speak 
ing  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had  concluded  he  turned  his  keen 
gray  eyes  to  her  face  and  saw  that  she  was  much  excited, 
though  she  made  a  brave  effort  to  appear  calm.  Afc 
length  she  met  his  gaze,  and  said  : 

"And  it  is  to  tell  me  this  that  you  have  come?" 

"To  tell  you  this,  and  much  more,  for  I  must  not  per 
mit  gallantry  to  stand  between  me  and  what  I  believe 
to  be  my  duty.  You  can  marry  Captain  Featherstone 
whenever  you  please,  and  no  man  in  Hawaii  will  daro 
to  question  your  right ;  but  when  you  essay  to  make  ««t 
tool  of  Kohala.  in  whom  we  all  are  interested,  then  for 
the  common  safety  and  the  common  good  we  deem  it 
a  duty  to  warn  you.  I  tell  you  now.  this  must  stop.  If 
you  desire  to  leave  Honolulu  I  will  secure  you  passage 
on  the  steamer  that  leaves  here  for  Australia  to-morrow, 
and  I  and  my  friends  will  see  to  it  that  you  have  means 
enough  to  keep  traveling  the  world  for  years,  if  you  so 
desire. ' ' 

The  colonel  looked  at  her  question  in gly.  She  had  now 
regained  her  well-bred  self-control. 

"I  do  not  fear  your  covert  threats,"  she  said,  very 
deliberatelv.  "I  am  an  Englishwoman,  and  the  British 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  63 

Consul  at  this  port  will  see  that  I  am  guaranteed  my 
rights." 

"Go  to  the  British  Consul  and  mention  my  name.  He 
will  assure  you  that  I  have  no  purpose  to  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  any  human  being ;  and  he  will  also  tell  you 
that,  when  in  a  strange  land,  his  country's  flag  is  power 
less  to  protect  you  in  violating  the  laws  of  that  land. ' ' 

"How  am  I  violating  the  laws?"  she  asked. 

"You  are  conspiring  to  overthrow  the  existing  Govern 
ment,  and  to  bring  Hawaii  under  British  control.  You 
are  coquetting  with  a  man  who  may  be  our  ruler  to 
morrow  ;  but  I  have  proof  that  as  soon  as  your  purpose 
is  accomplished  you  will  leave  these  islands  with  Feath- 
erstone.  There  are  no  walls  in  the  world  that  have  so 
many  ears  as  those  of  Honolulu.  Now  make  your 
choice:  go  on  with  your  scheme  and  prepare  for  the 
consequences,  or  quietly  take  your  departure,  and  thank 
Heaven  you  are  well  out  of  a  bad  scrape.  I  shall  not  ask 
you  for  an  answer  now,  but  will  call  at  this  time  to-mor 
row.  I  am  sorry  to  have  troubled  you,  but  I  felt  it  was 
my  duty  to  say  what  I  have  said.  Others,  to  whom  you 
are  quite  free  to  report  this  interview,  will  tell  you  that 
I  usually  mean  what  I  say,  and  I  was  never  more  in 
earnest  in  my  life  .  Good-morning,  madam." 

The  colonel  turned  and  left  the  room,  Mrs.  Holmes 
recognizing  his  departure  by  the  slightest  inclination  of 
her  dainty  head. 

For  some  time  after  her  guest  had  left  she  sat  in  the 
same  chair,  her  long-lashed  eyes  fastened  on  her  inter 
locked  fingers  and  a  look  of  unusual  seriousness  on  her 
face,  ^hich  had  aged  perceptibly  during  the  meeting. 

Her  vanity  was  hurt,  for  Colonel  Ellis  was  the  first 
man  she  had  met  in  Honolulu  who  had  not  treated  her 


64  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

with  smiling  gallantry  and  induced  her  to  believe  that 
he  was  impressed  by  her.  But  she  had  to  confess  to  her 
self  that  she  respected  him  all  the  more  for  his  strength 
and  candor. 

After  fully  half  an  hour,  during  which  time  the  taci 
turn  Clem  popped  in  her  head  to  look  at  her,  Marguerite 
Holmes  remained  absorbed  in  contemplation.  At  length 
she  stood  up,  removed  her  bonnet  and  wrap,  then  went 
to  her  own  room,  and,  throwing  herself  face  downward 
on  the  bed,  sobbed  as  if  her  heart  were  breaking. 

Did  she  lament  the  attack  made  011  Captain  Feather- 
stone?  Was  her  heart  cut  at  the  prospect  of  being  forced 
to  surrender  her  hold  on  the  ardent  and  romantic  Kohala? 
Was  her  conscience  stirred  to  life  by  the  memory  of  a  life 
error'?  Did  she  fret  over  Colonel  Ellis 's  discovery  and 
the  prospect  of  her  own  threatened  ambitions ;  or  did 
she,  womanlike,  give  way  to  her  tears  as  the  only  com 
forting  outlet  to  her  own  consciousness  of  helplessness 
and  weakness?  To  these  inquiries  we  cannot  make  an 
swer,  but  the  details  of  these  records  may  enable  the 
reader  to  determine. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


KOHALA  S  JEALOUSY  AROUSED. 


AT  the  council  called  by  Keona  of  Hawaii  there  was 
not  a  person  present  with  a  drop  of  white  blood  in  his 
veins.  At  the  feast  all  were  natives.  Such  meetings 
were  always  held  in  secret,  and  guards  were  kept  out 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  65 

to  prevent  the  approach  of  a  white  man  or  to  give  warn 
ing  of  the  same. 

Formerly  Americans  and  Englishmen,  with  the  brutal 
arrogance  of  race  superiority,  have  tried  to  force  their 
way  into  such  native  gatherings ;  but  the  f  ac  t  that  such 
intruders  were  always  ' 'found  missing"  soon  afterward 
and  were  never  seen  or  heard  of  again  led  to  the  belief 
that  the  natives,  though  ordinarily  very  amiable  people, 
were  ready  to  defend  some  of  their  rights  with  their 
lives,  and  that  they  were  quite  as  ready,  if  the  occasion 
warranted  it,  to  take  life,  as  in  the  days  of  Captain  Cook. 
There  were  signs  in  the  upper  sky  of  coming  day  when 
Keona,  preceded  by  four  tall  natives  bearing  paddles, 
walked  down  between  Kohala  and  Leila  to  the  shore. 
The  young  women  preceded  them,  singing  as  if  the 
night  had  brought  no  fatigue,  and  the  men  with  the 
spears  and  shields  brought  up  the  rear. 

As  became  his  rank,  the  canoe  of  Keona  was  the 
largest.  Into  this  the  chief,  his  prospective  son-in-law 
and  his  daughter  got,  and  then  a  score  of  strong  men 
pushed  it  out  from  the  shell-strewn  sand  to  the  smooth 
expanse  between  the  barrier  reef  and  the  shore. 

As  soon  as  the  canoe  was  afloat  the  four  rowers  sprang 
from  the  water  and  took  their  seats,  without  causing  a 
roll  in  the  light,  graceful,  craft. 

Kohala  had  a  misty  memory  of  having  seen  such  sights 
when  a  child,  and  particularly  on  the  occasion  of  his 
former  visit  to  the  sacred  cavern ;  but  this  did  not  im 
pair  the  striking  and  picturesque  novelty  of  his  sur 
roundings. 

From  his  flower-covered  seat  beside  Leila  he  looked 
about  him  and  saw  an  army,  or  rather  a  flotilla,  of 
canoes  dashing  from  the  shore,  a*  if  endowed  with  life, 


66  KOHALA    OF    HAWAII. 

and  he  beheld  them  forming  with  all  the  regularity  of 
trained  troops  on  parade. 

From  the  center  of  the  flotilla,  after  all  were  in  readi 
ness  and  the  fires  on  shore  extinguished,  the  shell  bugle 
of  the  old  priest,  Helna,  sounded  the  signal  to  advance. 
This  was  answered  by  a  cheer  from  the  men;  then,  to 
the  singing  of  the  women  ..the  rise  and  fall  and  splash 
of  the  paddles  kept  perfect  time,  and,  as  if  directed  by 
one  power,  the  canoes  moved  up  the  shore. 

The  morning  and  evening  twilights  are  brief  on  the 
lines  of  and  within  the  tropics ;  but  in  Hawaii  the 
mountains,  like  Mauna  Loa,  towering  above  the  white 
shore  and  emerald  valleys  for  fourteen  thousand  feet, 
catch  the  light  of  the  coming  sun  long  before  he  is 
visible  to  the  lower  world ;  and  so,  like  great  reflectors, 
they  diffuse  the  rays  and  fill  their  surroundings  with 
such  a  lovely,  poetic  twilight  as  no  other  land  in  the 
world  enjoys.  Day  does  not  seem  to  come  with  the 
sun,  but  rather  to  float  down,  cool,  calm  and  refresh 
ing,  from  the  snowy  heights  of  the  inland  peaks. 

Kohala.  to  the  fine  imagination  peculiar  to  his  race, 
added  the  taste  and  culture  of  the  world's  best  schools. 
He  had  the  childlike  freshness  and  capacity  for  enjoy 
ment  of  the  savage  plus  the  culture  that  comes  from  an 
eager  study  of  all  that  the  foremost  people  have  done  in 
the  world's  advance. 

He  saw  the  opal  light  turning  the  mountains  into  great 
beacons  and  flooding  the  shore  and  sea.  He  saw  the  east 
glowing  like  an  amethyst,  then  changing  to  translu 
cent  ruby.  He  saw  the  pink  glowr  on  the  shore  and  the 
dark  emerald  of  the  stately  palms  gradually  growing 
more  distinct,  as  if  they  were  marching  out  in  stately 
ranks  to  meet  the  canoes.  He  saw  the  black  water 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  67 

changing  to  liquid  malachite  and  the  breakers  on  the 
barrier  reef  turning  to  banks  of  iridescent  pearl. 

The  light  grew  more  intense,  and  he  saw  the  bright 
eyes  and  eager  faces  of  his  warlike  followers,  and  he 
heard  the  singing  of  the  maidens,  as  sweet  and  fresh  as 
when  their  voices  first  thrilled  him  in  the  sacred  cavern. 
The  light  grew  brighter;  the  east  was  ablaze;  the  rim 
of  the  mighty  sun  rose  over  the  sea  and  marked  out  a 
path  that  flashed,  straight  as  an  arrow  and  red  as  the 
fresh  heart-blood,  to  the  shore.  And  the  red  rays  turned 
redder  the  sterr  brow  of  Keona;  but  they  made  more 
beautiful,  because  they  revealed  more  distinctly,  the 
face  of  Leila,  who  sat  with  bowed  head  by  his  side. 

If  ever  a  scene  were  calculated  to  absorb  wholly  a 
man's  thought  it  was  this  one.  But  while  nothing 
escaped  the  notice  of  the  youth,  in  whose  honor  all  this 
was  being  done,  there  was  one  thing  needed  to  complete 
his  happiness.  If  Marguerite  Holmes  were  by  his  side 
to  enjoy  with  him,  then,  indeed,  would  the  cup  of  his 
rapture  be  full.  But,  whether  down  on  the  glowing, 
pulsating  sea,  or  up  on  the  calm,  frozen  heights  of 
Mauna  Loa,  either  would  have  been  Eden  with, her  by 
his  side. 

The  sun  was  half  an  hour  high  when  the  canoe  of  the 
chief  turned  into  a  palm-bordered  cove,  the  canoes  of 
his  immediate  retainers  following.  Before  the  flotilla 
broke  up  the  men  rose  in  their  canoes,  raised  their 
paddles  like  poised  lances,  and,  taking  the  signal  from 
the  shell  trumpets  of  the  Kahinas,  they  sent  up  a  cheer ; 
then  the  singing  women  rose,  and,  throwing  toward  him 
the  flowers  that  had  adorned  their  shining  black  tresses, 
shouted  :  "Long  live  Kohala,  our  king  !  Long  live  Leila, 
his  bride !" 


68  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Although  a  Hawaiian  in  every  fiber  of  his  being,  Keona 
was  far  too  great  and  shrewd  a  man  to  ignore  the  agencies 
whereby  the  white  man.  gathered  to  himself  wealth  and 
power.  He  might  be  called  well  educated.  He  was  a 
prosperous  sugar  planter,  and  he  had  pasture  lands 
covered  by  vast  herds  up  the  mountain-sides. 

His  home,  set  amid  groves  of  orange  and  lemon,  and 
walled  in  by  irregular  ranks  of  cocoanut  and  date  palm 
trees,  was  quite  as  grand  in  its  way  as  the  palace  at  Hon 
olulu.  His  house  was  furnished  after  the  American  style, 
and  an  array  of  trained  servants  were  ready  to  do  his 
bidding ;  yet  it  was  well  known  that,  when  he  did  not 
have  white  visitors,  he  dressed  and  ate  as  his  ancestors 
had  done  before  they  knew  that  there  was  a  white  man 
in  the  world. 

The  canoes  made  a  landing  at  a  little  pier  near 
Keona 's  house ;  but,  instead  of  leaving  the  shore,  the 
men  and  women  divided,  one  party  going  up  the  stream 
to  a  line  of  bathhouses,  and  within  a  few  minutes  all 
were  enjoying  a  morning  bath. 

After  the  bath  Keona  escorted  his  guest  to  the  house, 
where  they  found  Leila  and  breakfast  awaiting  them. 
Kohala  ate  some  fruit  and  then  was  escorted  to  a  cool 
chamber.  He  lay  down,  and  the  scenes  through  which 
he  had  passed  the  night  before  and  his  last  meeting  with 
Marguerite  Holmes  chased  each  other  in  wild  confusion 
through  his  brain,  till  he  dropped  off  to  sleep. 

When  he  awoke  it  was  high  noon,  and  a  native  boy 
was  beside  the  bed  fanning  him.  In  response  to  Kohala 's 
question,  the  boy,  after  bowing,  said,  in  the  native  tongue  : 

"It  is  the  hour  when  the  sun  is  the  hottest  and  the 
shadows  the  shortest. 

"And  vour  master? 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  69 

"He  has  ridden  into  the  hills  to  look  after  the  herds." 

"And  your  mistress,  Leila?" 

"Leila  bade  me  say,  when  you  awoke,  that  she  awaits 
you  with  luncheon  in  the  arbor  that  overlooks  the  sea," 
said  the  boy,  with  a  graceful  wave  of  the  fan  in  the  di 
rection  from  which  came  the  sound  of  the  breakers  on 
the  barrier  reef. 

Kohala  rose  and  dressed,  in  European  attire,  which 
he  was  very  glad  to  resume;  then,  guided  by  the  lad, 
he  went  down  to  the  beautiful,  blossom-covered  arbor, 
where  he  found  Leila,  dressed  in  a  loose,  cool  white 
wrapper  and  reading  a  book,  just  as  he  had  seen  Ameri 
can  girls  doing  in  the  shaded  grounds  of  the  best  sum 
mer  villas  at  Newport. 

With  an  ease  and  grace  that  he  had  never  seen  sur 
passed,  Leila  bade  him  good-morning,  gave  him  her  soft, 
shapely  hand  and  asked  him  how  he  had  rested. 

She  was  a  beautiful  savage  in  her  costume  of  the  night 
before ;  now  she  was  a  well-bred  lady,  without  any  sug 
gestion  of  ornament  about  her  person,  unless  it  might 
be  the  single  crimson  blossom  at  her  throat. 

As  she  moved  about,  the  loose  white  robe,  that  in  itself 
was  far  from  graceful,  served  to  bring  out  the  beauty  of 
her  lithe  form  and  the  exquisite  grace  of  her  bearing. 

He  would,  indeed,  have  been  a  poor  physiognomist 
who '  could  not  have  told  from  the  girl's  suppressed 
manner  and  the  timid  glances  of  the  soft  black  eyes, 
as  she  arranged  the  luncheon  and  fixed  seats  for  her 
self  and  Kohala,  that  she  loved  him  with  all  the  fire 
and  force  of  her  intense  nature. 

As  Kohala  watched  her  he  had  to  confess  to  himself 
that  she  was  far  more  beautiful  than  Marguerite  Holmes, 
and  also  that  she  was  quite  the  Englishwoman's  peer  in 


70  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

grace  and  culture.  He  also  realized  that,  for  his  own 
good  and  the  good  of  Hawaii,  it  was  his  duty  to  marry 
this  exquisite  native  girl.  But  love  is  as  selfish  as  it  is 
unreasoning. 

After  they  had  nibbled  at  the  fruits  and  drank  each 
a  glass  of  iced  orange  sherbet,  Kohala  said  : 

"It  seems  as  if  all  the  peace  of  heaven  were  here. 
Leila,  as  the  mistress  of  such  a  home,  you  should  be 
very  happy." 

"No  man  or  woman  can  be  happy."  replied  Leila, 
with  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  limitless  sea,  "so  long  as  the 
heart  yearns  for  something  it  does  not  possess." 

"Surely  you  are  not  in  that  state?"  He  regretted 
having  said  this  the  instant  he  had  spoken. 

Although  cultured  and  refined,  the  chief's  daughter 
had  not  been  brought  up  to  conceal  her  feelings.  Up 
to  the  coming  of  Kohala  from  beyond  the  sea  she  had 
never  had  a  wish  un gratified. 

Since  her  earliest  memory  she  had  been  taught  that 
she  was  the  betrothed  of  the  youth  who  was  yet  to  be 
the  king  of  Hawaii.  She  loved  to  think  of  him  in  soli 
tude,  and  as  she  grew  to  womanhood  and  he  sent  her 
his  pictures  from  the  land  of  the  white  man  she  tried 
to  give  life  to  the  shadow  and  to  picture  him  all  she 
found  him  when  he  came. 

It  was  not  with  her  a  case  of  love  at  first  sight ;  she 
had  loved  him  through  all  the  years  of  her  reasoning- 
life,  loved  him  with  increasing  intensity  as  the  years 
rolled  on,  and  this  love  culminated  in  the  most  ardent 
passion  when  she  met  him  after  his  return. 

She  had  heard  of  his  infatuation  for  Marguerite 
Holmes,  and  she  had  seen  him  lavishing  on  the  little 
Englishwoman  the  attentions  for  which  her  own  heart 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  71 

hungered;  and  she  tried  to  allay  her  jealousy  and  to 
soothe  her  anguish  with  the  belief  that  he  would  change 
as  soon  as  he  was  freed  from  the  allurements  and  temp 
tations  of  Honolulu,  and,  above  all,  from  the  influence 
of  the  Queen,  whose  purpose,  with  keen  feminine  per 
ception,  she  saw. 

Before  replying  to  Kohala's  question  she  looked  at 
him  for  some  seconds,  until  he  began  to  feel  uncom 
fortable  under  her  gaze,  then  said : 

"Yes.  I  am  in  that  state.  Kohala,  can  you  remem 
ber  when  we  were  in  the  cavern  before  last  night?" 

"It  is  to  me  like  a  dream,"  he  replied. 

"But  you  know  why  you  went  there?" 

"Yes;  I  was  taken  there  by  my  father." 

"As  I  was  by  mine.  I  was  then  but  four  years  of  age. 
You  were  four  years  older ;  still,  from  then  till  now  in 
not  one  hour  of  my  waking  life  have  the  obligations  of 
that  time  been  absent  from  my  mind.  While  you  were 
in  foreign  lands  I  was  praying  for  your  return  and 
planning  for  the  happier  days  of  Hawaii  that  must 
surely  come  to  our  race  when  you  were  their  ruler 
and  I  was  your  wife.  Have  you,  too,  thought  of  these 
things,  Kohala?" 

"I  have,"  he  replied,  with  averted  face. 

"And  you  have  hoped  for  them?" 

"The  happiness  of  my  race  has  been  the  one  motive 
of  my  life.  It  is  that  that  made  me  a  student  in  the 
white  man's  schools  and  brought  me  back  to  my  native 
land.  But  I  have  had  no  time  to  give  to  love,  and  I 
have  come  to  think  that,  no  matter  what  our  parents 
may  have  done  in  the  long  ago,  when  we  reached  years 
of  discretion  we  should  be  controlled  by  our  own  hearts. " 

"And  that  is  what  I  believe,  and  that  is  what  I  feel. 


72  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Think  you  I  could  not  have  had  lovers  among  the  best 
of  our  own  people  and  the  richest  of  the  whites?"  she 
asked,  as  she  sat  more  erect,  and  a  strange,  dangerous 
light  came  into  her  great  black  eyes. 

"I  am  sure  of  it,"  replied  Kohala,  "for  you  are  very 
beautiful — more  beautiful  than  any  white  woman  I  have 
ever  met,  and  wise  as  their  wisest/' 

"But  think  you  that  I  have?" 

'  No." 

"And  why  have  I  not?" 

"Because  the  best  was  not  worthy  of  you,"  he  said, 
evasively. 

"No!"  she  responded,  with  startling  emphasis.  "It 
is  because  through  all  my  life  I  have  loved  and  waited 
for  the  coming  of  my  king !  You  came,  and  I  felt  that 
the  day  that  was  to  make  me  your  queen  was  at  hand. 
You  came,  but  with  you  came  a  white  woman,  and  they 
tell  me  that  she,  like  a  thief  who  cannot  value  what  she 
has  stolen,  has  robbed  me  of  the  heart  of  Kohala !  Is 
this  true?" 

Kohala's  cheeks  had  been  olive,  but  now  they  turned 
red.  In  his  confusion  he  rose  to  his  feet  and  got  so  far 
in  his  denial  as  to  say,  "No  !"  when  a  step  was  heard  011 
the  shell  walk  near  by,  and  the  next  instant  Colonel  Ellis 
stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  arbor. 

The  colonel  was  well  known  to  Leila,  and,  after  salut 
ing  the  young  people  and  telling  them  that  he  had  just 
come  from  Honolulu,  he  took  a  letter  from  his  breast 
pocket  and  handed  it  to  Kohala,  saying : 

"That  is  of  great  importance  to  you.  Read  it.  Leila 
will  pardon  you." 

The  colonel  sat  down  and  began  to  fan  himself  with 
his  straw  hat.  while  Kohala  stepped  outside  the  arbor. 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  73 

The  young  man  tore  off  the  envelope  and  was  sur 
prised  to  see  that  the  writing  was  the  colonel's.  He 
read  the  following : 

"DEAR  KOHALA — You  must  return  to  Honolulu  with 
me  at  once.  What  your  friends  have  feared  is  true.  The 
Englishwoman  has  deceived  you.  She  has  other  lovers, 
and  one  of  them  she  is  going  to  marry  as  soon  as  her  pur 
pose  with  you  is  gained.  This  I  am  ready  to  prove  to 
your  entire  satisfaction. 

"  Your  friend,  so  long  as  you  are  the  friend  of  Hawaii, 

"NORM AN  ELLIS." 

As  Kohala  read  he  leaned  against  the  arbor,  and  his 
lips  drew  back  like  a  scabbard  from  his  white  teeth. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BACK   TO    HONOLULU. 

KOHALA,  as  if  unwilling  to  credit  the  evidence  of  his 
sight,  read  over  and  over  again  the  note  Colonel  Ellis 
luid  given  him ;  then,  satisfied  that  he  had  read  it  aright 
the  first  time,  he  crushed  it  in  his  right  palm  and  stared 
clown  at  the  breakers  on  the  reef  without  seeing  them. 

At  length  he  became  aware  of  the  hum  of  voices  in 
the  arbor,  and  he  came  back  to  a  comprehension  of  the 
situation. 

He  realized  that  it  would  not  do  to  show  Leila  that  he 
was  awfully  excited,  lest  he  might  be  asked  to  explain 
the  cause ;  so,  with  an  effort  of  will,  he  brought  his  lips 
together  and  covered  the  daggerlike  flash  of  his  teeth. 
From  his  handsome  face  he  succeeded  in  banishing  the 


74  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

fierce  expression  that  had  transformed  him  for  the  in 
stant  into  an  angered  and  unreasoning  savage.  But, 
determined  though  he  was,  and  successful  though  he 
was  in  banishing  from  his  eyes  and  mouth  the  signs  of 
intense  hate,  he  was  powerless  to  still  the  wild  leaping 
of  his  heart.  He  heard  the  colonel  saying : 

"Yes,  Leila,  it  is  all-important  that  Kohala  should  re 
turn  with  me  at  once  to  Honolulu.  I  shall  leave  a  letter 
for  your  father  explaining  why  I  have  not  remained  to 
see  him." 

"But  if  there  is  danger  to  Kohala  in  Honolulu,"  said 
Leila,  "I  shall  go  there  with  you." 

"But  there  is  not,  I  assure  you.  We  have  enlisted  a 
regiment  of  men  who  are  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Loring — you  know  him ;  he  is  betrothed  to  my  daughter 
Alice — and  if  any  danger  threatens  Kohala  he  and  his 
men  are  ready  to  avert  it.  The  Queen  is  using  her 
every  effort  to  retain  the  throne ;  but  it  is  rocking  be 
neath  her,  and  she  must  soon  descend  of  her  own  vo 
lition  or  be  hurled  to  the  ground  by  the  motion,"  said 
the  colonel. 

"And  is  there  danger  of  war?"  asked  Leila. 

"No,  I  hope  not;  yet  we  realize  that  the  best  way  to 
avert  it  is  to  be  prepared  for  it.  But  as  for  Kohala,  fear 
not  for  him,"  said  the  colonel,  with  a  little  laugh  that 
found  no  response  in  her  heart.  "I  shall  return  him  to 
you  in  safety. ' ' 

The  colonel  went  to  the  entrance  of  the  arbor,  and  was 
about  to  call  the  youth  for  whom  he  had  come  when  he 
came  in  himself. 

"Well,  Kohala,  what  think  you  of  that  note?"  asked 
the  colonel. 

"I  cannot  believe  it  true,"  was  the  reply. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  75 

"Nor  did  I  think  you  would.  But  your  own  eyes  and 
ears  will  prove  to  you  that  it  is  every  syllable  true.  Are 
you  ready  to  leave  for  Hilo?" 

"I  am ;  but  I  must  first  see  Keona  and  express  to  him 
my  groat  gratitude  for  his  kindness." 

"I  shall  do  that  service  for  you,"  said  Leila,  "though 
my  father  wants  no  thanks  for  what  is  to  him  at  once 
a  duty  and  a  pleasure.  If  our  friend,  Colonel  Ellis, 
thinks  your  presence  needed  at  once  at  Honolulu,  go 
with  him,  for  in  times  like  these  we  cannot  give  thought 
to  personal  ease  nor  to  ordinary  courtesy,  if  they  detain 
us. ' ' 

"Spoken  like  the  daughter  of  a  chief  !"  cried  the  colonel, 
who  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  beautiful  girl  and 
who  was  more  than  eager  that  his  ward  should  regard 
her  in  the  same  light. 

The  colonel  had  come  over  from  Hilo  in  a  buggy  drawn 
by  a  pair  of  his  own  team,  and  he  was  famed  for  having 
the  fastest  and  best-bred  horses  in  Hawaii. 

Kohala's  trunk  was  fastened  to  the  shelf  behind  the 
buggy,  and  the  horses  were  hitched  and  prancing  with 
impatience  to  be  off. 

The  young  man  gave  Leila  his  hand,  and  he  was  about 
to  raise  hers  gallantly  to  his  lips  when,  to  his  surprise 
and  confusion,  she  threw  her  graceful  arms  about  his 
neck  and  kissed  him  again  and  again,  saying,  as  she 
released  him: 

"My  king !  You  are  mine  !  You  belong  to  Leila  and 
Hawaii." 

"Splendid  girl,  that  Leila,"  said  Colonel  Ellis,  as  the 
horses  dashed  over  the  circular  road  along  the  coast  to 
Hilo.  "She  is  worth  a  million  such  creatures  as  that 


76  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

little,  thin  adventuress  you  are  breaking  your  heart 
over." 

"She  is  all  you  say,"  replied  Kohala,  yet  internally 
revolting  against  what  the  colonel  had  said. 

The  young  man  had  heard  before  that  Marguerite 
Holmes  had  deceived  others  and  would  deceive  him, 
yet  so  long  as  he  had  not  the  direct  evidence  of  this 
fact  he  was  unwilling  to  believe  that  she  was  not  all 
she  claimed  to  be  to  him. 

He  honored  and  respected  Colonel  Ellis,  who,  since 
his  childhood,  had  been  to  him  as  a  father,  and,  while 
he  believed  him  noble,  he  tried  to  comfort  himself  with 
the  thought  that  he  was  not  true  to  himself  in  his  con 
demnation  of  Marguerite  Holmes. 

A  few  minutes  of  silence  followed  this,  during  which 
time  the  colonel,  who  was  smoking  a  cigar,  succeeded  in 
getting  the  spirited  team  down  to  a  settled  pace,  which 
it  could  keep  up  without  harm  as  far  as  Hilo,  fifteen 
miles  away. 

The  woman  he  was  flying  to — not  the  beautiful  girl 
he  had  left — filled  and  troubled  the  heart  of  the  young 
man. 

He  reasoned  that  other  women  had  been  fklse ;  he  had 
read  and  heard  of  such ;  but  what  lover  ever  thought  it 
possible  that  the  woman  he  loved  could  be  placed  in 
such  a  category?  Certainly  not  the  youth  who  was 
undergoing  his  first  delightful  but  torturing  experience 
of  the  tender  passion. 

Coughing,  to  steady  his  nerves  rather  than  to  clear 
his  throat,  Kohala,  unable  longer  to  keep  back  the  an 
guish  and  curiosity  that  filled  his  heart,  asked : 

"How  did  you  learn,  colonel,  that  Mrs.  Holmes  was. 
deceiving  me?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  77 

"Through  the  best  of  sources,"  said  the  colonel. 

"But  what  are  they?" 

"My  own  ears." 

"But  you  do  not  know  her." 

"But  I  do." 

"I  was  not  aware  of  that." 

"Still  it  is  true." 

"Then  you  must  have  become  acquainted  with  her 
since  I  left. ' ' 

"That  is  true." 

"How  did  you  come  to  meet  her?" 

"Through  Dr.  Wallace." 

"I  do  not  know  him." 

"Well,  I  know  him.  He  is  a  fine  old  fellow  and  a 
widower,  and,  I  may  add,  he  is  one  of  this  woman's 
dupes.  He,  too,  is  in  love  with  her,  and  believes  she 
will  accept  him  at  the  right  time;  and  I  am  inclined 
to  think  she  will  if  she  does  not  hook  a  man  more  to 
her  liking  before  she  leaves  Honolulu.  Why,  the  woman 
had  hardly  set  eyes  on  me  before  she  began  to  spread  her 
net  to  entrap  me.  But  I  know  the  tricks  of  the  class, ' ' 
and  the  colonel  blew  out  a  cloud  of  smoke  and  laughed 
till  the  horses  threatened  to  run  away. 

Speaking  very  slowly  and  as  if  with  an  effort,  Kohala 
asked : 

"Is  it  because  of  her  attempt  to  flirt  with  you  that  you 
judge  her?" 

"Indeed  it  is  not,"  said  the  colonel. 

"Did  you  speak  of  me?" 

"Yes.     I  brought  your  name  up." 

"But  why?" 

"Because  I  want  to  save  you." 

"And  you  told  her  so?" 


78  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"I  did." 

"And  that  is  all  you  know  against  her?" 

"No,  Kohala,  for  her  own  sake  I  wish  it  were." 

"Do  you  object  to  telling  me  the  reason  for  your  sus 
picions?" 

"In  connection  with  that  woman,  I  have  no  sus 
picions." 

"What  then?" 

"Convictions!"  exclaimed  the  colonel. 

"And  you  have  good  reasons  for  them?" 

"The  best  in  the  world." 

"Then,  for  Heaven's  sake  tell  me  and  ease  my  heart. 
I  am  sure  you  will  say  nothing  you  do  not  know  to  be 
true." 

"Nothing  that  I  do  not  know  to  be  true.  Since  you 
left  Honolulu  I  have,  with  my  own  eyes,  seen  your 
precious  trioml.  Captain  Featherstone,  kissing  the  wo 
man  who  is  making  a  fool  of  you." 

"I  can't  believe  it!" 

"Then  you  mean  to  say  I  am  willfully  lying?"  said 
the  colonel,  with  a  ring  of  anger  in  his  voice. 

"No,  no,  colonel,  not  that;  only  that  you  are  deceiv 
ing  yourself,"  replied  Kohala,  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
excitement. 

"Kohala,  look  at  me  and  tell  me  how  long  you  have 
known  me." 

Without  looking,  Kohala  replied : 

"As  long  as  I  can  remember." 

"Did  you  ever  know  me  to  tell  a  lie?" 

"Never." 

"Did  you  ever  think  my  niind  was  not  clear?" 

"No." 

"Do  you  think  I  can  see  you  there  by  my  side?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  79 

"Surely." 

"And  you  hear  my  voice?" 

"I  do." 

"And  I  hear  yours?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  just  as  clearly  and  distinctly  I  saw  this  man 
Featherstone  kissing  this  adventuress,  Mrs.  Holmes,  and 
I  heard  him  telling  her  that  as  soon  as  his  plans  were 
perfected  and  you  were  declared  king  that  they  should 
leave  Honolulu  as  man  and  wife." 

"When  was  this?" 

"The  night  before  I  left." 

"And  she  seemed  to  consent?" 

"Seemed  to  consent !  When  a  woman  offers  no  objec 
tion  to  such  familiarity  she  consents,"  said  the  colonel, 
scornfully. 

"Pardon  me,  my  best  of  friends,  if  for  the  moment  I 
should  regard  this  as  a  horrible  dream,  said  Kohala, 
with  his  hands  pressed  to  his  eyes  as  if  to  shut  out  the 
burning  light.  "It  is  all  so  unexpected  that  I  cannot 
realize  it.  She  told  me  that  she  loved  me,  and,  loving 
her.  I  believed  it.  If,  in  truth,  she  has  deceived  me, 
then  farewell  to  her  and  Hawaii." 

'That  is  all  nonsense,  my  son."  said  the  colonel,  with 
more  kindness  in  his  voice.  "Every  young  man  worth 
a  snap  has  passed  through  the  same  experience.  Some 
one  has  said,  and  I  believe  it,  that  the  human  heart  is 
like  a  beef-steak — the  more  it  is  pounded  the  tenderer 
it  gets.  Of  course,  you  feel  mighty  bad  over  this.  I 
remember  I  did  when,  many  years  ago,  I  discovered  that 
my  best  girl  had  betrayed  me  and  run  away  with  an 
other  man ;  but  after  a  few  weeks  I  got  over  it  and  was 


80  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

as  good  as  new — better,  indeed,  for  I  had  all  the  benefit 
of  the  experience." 

"That  may  be,"  said  Kohala,  quietly,  "but  you  are  not 
a  Hawaiian." 

"Oh,  nonsense !  When  it  conies  to  love,  human  nature 
is  the  same  all  the  world  over." 

The  colonel  threw  away  the  stump  of  the  cigar  he 
had  been  smoking  and  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  road  in 
front,  far  down  which  he  could  see  the  white  steeples 
shooting  up  through  the  palms  that  embowered  Hilo. 
Kohala  wanted  to  dwell  on  this  subject,  but  as  he  could 
get  no  comfort  from  the  man  who  had  given  him  all 
this  agony  he  lapsed  into  silence. 

There  was  much  that  he  had  not  told  his  friend,  much 
that  must  yet  come  to  his  knowledge ;  yet  he  dared  not 
speak,  for  he  felt  that  if  the  truth  were  known  the  blow, 
which  he  did  not  fear  so  far  as  it  threatened  himself, 
would  fall  on  the  woman  he  loved. 

He  had  all  faith  in  Colonel  Ellis,  and  believed  him 
incapable  of  deceit  or  falsehood.  He  realized,  further, 
that  his  guardian  must  have  some  ground  for  his  charge ; 
but  if  an  angel  had  appeared  and  told  him  at  that  mo^ 
ment  that  Marguerite  Holmes  was  false  to  him  he 
would  have  treated  the  message  with  scorn  and  incre 
dulity. 

Curiously  enough,  while  his  love  for  the  Englishwo 
man  was  strengthened  rather  than  abated,  and  he  still 
believed  her  entirely  true  and  the  colonel  entirely  mis 
taken,  he  suddenly  conceived  the  most  violent  dislike 
for  Captain  Featherstone. 

He  could  well  see  how  Featherstone  and  every  other 
man  could  fall  in  love  with  Marguerite ;  but,  loverlike, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  81 

it  was  entirely  beyond  his  comprehension  that  she  should 
love  any  man  but  himself. 

At  length  the  foaming  horses  were  halted  at  the  pier, 
where  the  colonel's  steam-yacht  was  made  fast. 

Kohala's  trunk  was  taken  011  board.  Steam  was  up, 
and  while  a  servant  was  walking  the  horses  back  to  their 
stable  the  yacht  was  headed  for  the  open  sea. 

As  soon  as  the  vessel  was  under  way  Kohala  went  to 
his  stateroom  and  lay  down.  Some  time  afterward  he 
was  called  to  dinner,  but  he  excused  himself. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  night  a  servant  brought  him  in 
some  tea  and  toast,  but  he  could  not  eat  it.  Trouble  is 
a  great  destroyer  of  appetite. 

It  was  midnight  before  he  dropped  off  to  sleep.  When 
he  awoke  the  thumping  of  the  engines  had  ceased,  and, 
looking  out  through  the  port,  he  saw  that  the  sun  was 
well  up  and  that  the  yacht  was  moored  to  her  dock  in 
the  harbor  of  Honolulu. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PREPARING    FOR    THE   STRUGGLE. 

HONOLULU  is  never  a  bustling  city,  in  the  American 
sense.  .  When  the  excitement  caused  by  the  Queen's 
purpose  to  force  an  unjust  and  illegal  constitution  on 
the  people  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  citizens  the 
city  was  in  as  great  a  state  of  uproar  as  Park  Row,  New 
York,  011  election  night. 

The  natives,  as  if  dreading  an  explosion,  the  reason 
for  which  but  a  few  of  them  could  understand,  drew 


82  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

off  by  themselves  and  discussed  the  situation  in  whispers 
from  the  standpoint  of  their  fears,  for,  though  they 
would  stand  up  for  the  Queen  against  the  encroachments 
of  the  white  men,  yet  they  did  not  like  her. 

Bolder  but  equally  cautious,  the  white  population 
gathered  in  groups  on  the  streets  and  discussed  the  revo 
lution  which  all  felt  to  be  inevitable. 

The  office  of  the  American  Minister  was  crowded  with 
merchants,  his  own  countrymen,  and  many  French  and 
Germans,  all  pondering  over  what  was  best  to  be  done 
to  insure  protection  to  life  and  property  in  the  event  of 
an  outbreak. 

By  this  time  each  side  had  decided  on  the  course  to  be 
pursued,  and  as  a  result,  Honolulu  was  in  a  state  of  calm 
that  all  saw  was  far  more  ominous  than  the  first  noisy 
and  excited  outbreak. 

It  was  well  known  to  the  citizens,  well  known  to  the 
police,  and,  of  course  well  known  to  the  vigilant  ad 
herents  of  the  Queen,  who  had  now  made  the  palace 
their  headquarters,  that  bands  of  white  men  went  nightly 
down  the  road  to  the  race-track,  where  they  threw  out 
guards  to  prevent  intrusion,  and  where  it  was  believed 
Colonel  Arthur  Loring  was  drilling  them,  though  as  yet 
neither  side  had  attempted  to  raid  the  arsenal,  which  it 
was  well  known  both  sides  were  watching. 

But  the  present  calm  was  ominous.  It  was  such  as 
comes  upon  the  Hawaiian  Mountains  with  the  black 
clouds  that  tell  of  an  impending  storm. 

The  white,  uniformed  guard  before  the  palace  and  the 
dusky  policeman,  pacing  before  the  Parliament  House 
across  the  way,  seemed  both  absorbed  in  other  matters 
than  their  immediate  duties. 

Since  the  inevitable  split  between  herself  and  a  ma- 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  83 

jority  of  the  foreign  residents  began  the  Queen  had 
been  seen  but  little  on  the  streets,  and  then  she  was 
closely  veiled  and  in  a  covered  carriage. 

During  the  day  there  were  but  few  people  seen  enter 
ing  or  leaving  the  palace,  but  at  night  this  seeming 
neglect  was  made  up  for. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  police  were  devoted  to  Her 
Majesty,  and  so  they  were  sh mined  by  her  opponents,  all 
of  whom  were  prepared  to  resist  an  illegal  arrest. 

But  there  were  events  of  too  much  importance  to  the 
Queen,  to  be  kept  from  her  knowledge  till  night. 

Colonel  Ellis's  yacht,  with  Kohala  on  board,  had 
scarcely  been  made  fast  to  her  dock  when  a  young 
native,  a  clerk  at  the  Government  House,  started  for 
the  palace. 

The  Queen  was  closeted  with  her  minister,  Mr.  Eli 
Porter,  when  the  clerk  rapped  at  the  door  and  was  told 
to  enter,  for,  though  the  sovereigns  of  Hawaii  have  tried 
to  imitate  the  formality  and  exclusiveness  of  European 
rulers,  they  have  never  had  the  means  to  support  such 
state,  nor  is  it  at  all  certain  that  their  native  adherents, 
who  still  retain  much  of  the  old  clan  spirit,  would  sub 
mit  to  it. 

"Hello,  Lan!"  called  out  Porter,  when  the  young  man 
stood  bowing  and  panting  before  Her  Majesty,  "what  is 
up  now?" 

"Colonel  Ellis  has  returned,"  said  the  messenger. 

"  Well,"  snapped  the  Queen,  "there  is  nothing  startling 
in  that.  As  there  was  no  good  ground  for  hoping  that 
Colonel  Ellis  might  be  drowned,  we,  of  course,  expected 
him  back." 

"But,  Your  Majesty,"  continued  the  messenger, 
"Kohala  has  come,  too!" 


84  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Kohala  here?"  exclaimed  the  Queen. 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty." 

"And  he  returned  with  Colonel  Ellis?" 

"He  did,  Your  Majesty." 

'Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it,  Mr.  Porter?"  asked 
the  Queen,  as  she  turned  and  looked  at  her  minister. 

"I  am  not  at  all  surprised,"  said  Mr.  Porter.  "Indeed, 
I  may  say  that  I  am  glad."  Then,  to  the  messenger: 
"That  will  do,  Lan;  you  can  leave." 

As  soon  as  the  young  man  had  gone  out  the  Queen 
said,  rather  petulantly : 

"Why  are  you  glad  that  the  pretender  is  here,  Mr. 
Porter?" 

"Because  here  we  can  watch  him,  and  hold  him.  Once 
under  the  control  of  Keona  and  his  daughter,  he  would 
be  out  of  our  reach.  Why,  I  think  it  shows  bad  general 
ship  to  fetch  him  here." 

"They  did  not  fetch  him,"  said  the  Queen, with  a  grim 
laugh. 

"Who  brought  him,  think  you?" 

"Marguerite  Holmes." 

"I  think  Your  Majesty  is  right." 

"I  know  I  am." 

"Good;  then  if  Marguerite  Holmes  can  control  him — 
and  I  think  there  is  but  little  doubt  of  her  power — we 
must  see  to  it  that  the  lady  does  not  escape  our  in 
fluence,"  said  Porter,  and  he  rose  and  backed  two  steps 
from  the  Queen's  presence,  as  if  about  to  depart,  when 
she  gave  her  royal  permission. 

"Do  you  know,  Mr.  Porter,  that  I  have  recently  changed 
my  mind  about  this  woman?"  said  the  Queen,  with  the 
subdued  tone  of  one  about  to  communicate  a  secret. 

Mr.  Porter  took  a  step  nearer,  ana  asked : 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  85 

"In  what  way,  Your  Majesty?" 

"I  think  she  is  weak  and  cunning." 

"Does  Your  Majesty  call  that  a  discovery?"  asked  Mr. 
Porter. 

"Not  at  all.  But  I  have  come  to  believe  that  she  loves 
Kohala  better  than  she  loves  any  other  being  in  the 
world,  and  that  is  a  discovery." 

"Her  capacity  for  love,  I  imagine,  is  rather  varied," 
said  Mr.  Porter,  with  a  sneer.  "But  why  should  we 
care  who  or  what  she  is,  so  long  as  she  answers  our 
purpose?  On  the  whole,  however,  I  should  be  glad  to 
know  that  what  you  say  is  true,  for  in  that  event  we 
can  the  better  use  her  for  our  own  ends.  Now,  with 
Your  Majesty's  consent,  I  shall  withdraw,  for  it  is  pos 
sible  that  the  dreaded  raid  on  the  armory  may  be  made 
to-night,  and  I  must  be  ready  with  our  friends  to  see 
that  the  arms  do  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels." 

"And  you  will  avoid  bloodshed?"  she  asked. 

"If  it  can  be  avoided,  Your  Majesty." 

And  Mr.  Porter  left  the  palace  and  went  over  to  the 
Government  House,  where  he  had  an  office,  but  where 
for  some  weeks  there  had  been  but  little  public  business 
transacted. 

He  found  a  dozen  men,  nearly  all  "full-bloods"  or 
half-breeds,  awaiting  him,  and  all  looking  as  if  they 
feared  something  serious  might  immediately  happen  if 
any  of  them  spoke  above  a  whisper. 

Lan,  the  young  man  who  had  brought  the  news  of 
Kohala's  arrival  to  the  palace,  was  present,  and  he  had 
evidently  reported  the  same  thing,  for  they  were  dis 
cussing  the  matter  and  speculating  as  to  what  it  por 
tended. 

Speaking  in  their  native  tongue — a  language  which 


86  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Porter  understood  quite  as  well  as  he  did  English — a 
tall,  powerfully  built  Hawaiian,  who  was  employed  in 
the  Queen's  gardens  and  whose  breath  told  that  he 
huJ  acquired  at  least  one  of  the  white  man's  most  de 
structive  vices,  said : 

"Why  bother  about  this  youth,  Kohala?  Why  fear 
him  when  six  inches  of  steel  in  his  heart  will  put  him 
out  of  the  way  forever?"  and  the  man,  as  if  to  show- 
that  the  blade  and  the  arm  to  drive  it  were  ready,  drew 
from  his  belt  a  long  two-edged  dagger. 

Porter  took  the  weapon,  tried  the  edges  against  the 
ball  of  his  thumb,  as  some  men  try  a  razor  before  shav 
ing,  then  said : 

"Yes,  with  that.  Hoi,  a  brave  man  could  do  the  work; 
but  if  he  was  discovered.  I  wouldn't  care  to  insure  his 
life,  so  long  as  there  are  Americans  in  Honolulu. ' ' 

"The  man  brave  enough  to  do  the  deed  will  be  too 
cunning  to  be  detected;  yet  there  will  be  a  great  risk, 
and  it  should  be  paid  for.  What  say  you  to  that,  Eli 
Porter?" 

"I  say  you  are  right.  But  put  the  weapon  away.  This 
is  not  the  time  or  place  to  talk." 

The  man  whom  Porter  called  "Hoi"  was  sheathing  the 
dagger  when  Captain  Featherstone  came  in,  looking  very 
much  excited. 

"Mr.  Porter,"  he  began,  "I  must  see  you  alone  and  at 
once !" 

Mr.  Porter  led  the  captain  into  his  private  office,  closed 
the  door  and  asked : 

"Well,  captain,  w~hat  is  the  new  danger?" 

'  'You  know  that  this  man  whom  they  call  'Colonel'  Lor- 
ing.  though  of  late  he  was  known  as  'captain,'  is  a  trained 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  S( 

soldier,  a  graduate  of  the  great  American  military  school 
at  West  Point?" 

"I  am  aware  of  that,"  replied  Porter,  "but  are  you  not 
also  a  trained  soldier?" 

"Yes;  but  my  countrymen,  the  English,  will  not  stand 
by  me  as  the  Americans  do  by  Loring. ' ' 

"The  Americans  are  powerless,  so  long  as  they  have 
no  arms,  and  they  cannot  get  arms  while  a  hundred  of 
the  Queen's  most  stalwart  adherents  are  secreted  in  the 
arsenal." 

"Yet,  Mr.  Porter,  they  have  arms!" 

"You  are  sure?" 

"I  am  certain." 

"But,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  reasonable,  how  could 
they  get  them  in  Honolulu  without  my  knowledge?  I 
have  ordered  all  the  stores  that  sell  arms  and  ammuni 
tion  to  be  closed." 

"And  they  were  closed,  a  fact  that  made  it  easier  for 
the  Americans  to  get  all  the  pistols  and  ammunition 
they  needed  by  the  back  doors.  Then,  men  have  been 
going  on  board  the  Boston  in  gangs  of  late,  and  it  is 
believed  they  have  brought  away  rifles  under  their  long 
coats.  Our  Consul  is  certain  that,  at  a  signal  to  be 
given  by  the  Americans  on  shore,  the  captain  of  the 
Boston  will  at  once  land  his  sailors  and  marines,  seize 
the  palace,  supplant  the  Hawaiian  flag  with  that  of  the 
States  and  depose  Her  Majesty  by  that  act." 

"And  think  you  that  the  English  captain  and  the 
English  Consul  will  look  idly  on  while  that  is  being 
done?"  asked  Porter. 

"They  cannot  help  themselves.  They  dare  not  pre 
cipitate  a  war  with  the  States." 

"Then  what  would  you  adviser" 


88  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"That  you  precipitate  the  inevitable." 

"In  what  way?" 

'  'Show  your  hand  and  your  force.  There  are  five  thou 
sand  men  ready  to  oppose  the  Americans,  and  they  will 
do  it  if  Kohala  can  be  induced  to  lead  them — " 

"Which  would  mean  that  within  twenty-four  hours 
Kohala  would  be  proclaimed  King-  of  Hawaii." 

"Better  that  than  an  American  protectorate.  You  know 
better  than  I  can  tell  you  that  the  days  of  the  Queen,  as 
a  ruler,  are  numbered.  You  and  all  her  friends,  even 
Her  Majesty,  will  reap  the  advantage  of  the  course  I 
suggest."  said  Featherstone,  with  unusual  energy  of 
manner. 

"Which  is  to  resign  in  favor  of  Kohala?" 

"Exactly." 

"And  so  ignore  the  Princess  Kaiulani,  whom  she  has 
willed  to  be  her  successor?" 

"As  the  will  of  the  Queen  is  ignored  by  even  her 
friends  it  is  better  that  she  should  make  a  virtue  of 
a  necessity.  The  course  I  propose  means  success;  any 
other  course  is  ruin. ' ' 

"But  could  we  get  Kohala  to  agree  to  this?"  asked 
Porter,  evidently  impressed  by  the  other's  words  and 
manner. 

"I  can  promise  that." 

"But  why  are  you  so  sure?" 

"I  know  Mrs.  Holmes;  she  is  my  friend — " 

"Every  man's  friend,"  sneered  Porter. 

"No,  sir!"  said  Featherstone,  hotly.  "She  is  a  lady, 
and  has  no  talent  for  deceit,  any  more  than  she  has  love 
for  the  Americans.  To  keep  Hawaii  from  their  grasp 
she  is  willing  to  use  to  the  utmost  the  po^ver  she  has 
over  Kohala.  Whatever  she  advises  he  will  do." 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  89 

'  'The  more  fool  Kohala.  But  I  must  have  time  to  think 
over  what  you  have  said.  I  can  do  nothing  without  the 
concurrence  of  the  Queen." 

"But  time  is  flying.  There  is  not  a  minute  to  be  lost. 
To-night,  if  ever,  the  blow  for  ascendency  must  be  dealt !" 
said  Featherstone,  and  he  enforced  his  words  with  em 
phatic  gestures. 

"Good;  then  you  bring  me  the  assurance— and,  mark 
you,  there  must  be  no  doubt  about  it — that  Kohala  is 
ready  to  lead  on  our  side  if  the  Queen  resigns  in  his 
favor,  and  then  I  will  tell  you  our  decision.  At  present 
we  are  beating  the  wind.  Go  to  Mrs.  Holmes  at  once 
and  get  her  to  secure  Kohala 's  agreement  in  writing. 
That  will  settle  matters,"  and  Mr.  Porter  reopened  the 
door  leading  into  the  general  office. 

Captain  Featherstone  replaced  his  hat  and  started  out 
to  where  a  closed  carriage  awaited  him.  He  was  evi 
dently  disappointed  and  angered  at  Porter's  seeming  in- 
dilierence.  He  did  not  know  that  Porter  clearly  un 
derstood  his  purpose,  and  that  he  was  quite  as  much 
opposed  to  the  rule  of  the  English  as  he  was  to  that 
of  the  Americans. 

"Where  to,  sir?"  asked  the  driver. 

"To  Mrs.  Holmes's,"  said  Featherstone,  as  he  sprang 
into  the  carriage  and  closed  the  door  with  an  angry  bang. 


90  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

AN   EXCITED    MEETING. 

IT  was  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  when  Kohala  and 
Colonel  Ellis  took  dinner  in  the  cabin.  In  his  anxiety 
to  see  Marguerite  Holmes  he  would  have  gone  without 
his  dinner ;  but  he  had  sufficient  self-control  left,  or,  at 
least,  so  he  imagined,  to  keep  his  feelings  from  his  friend. 

As  if  reading  his  thoughts,  the  colonel  said,  when  they 
rose  from  the  table : 

"You  must  try  to  forget  your  own  affairs  for  the 
present,  and  come  with  me  to  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 
Our  friends,  many  of  whom  have  not  met  you,  will  bo 
there,  and  let  me  say  that  your  future  success  will  de 
pend  on  the  impression  you  make,  so  try  and  banish 
this  lady  from  your  mind  for  the  time  being. ' ' 

Kohala  coughed  and  nodded  to  indicate  that  he  fully 
understood  what  was  expected  of  him  and  his  own  in 
ability  to  realize  it. 

To  "banish  this  ladj^  from  his  mind  for  the  time  being  !" 
Why,  Colonel  Ellis  might  as  well  have  asked  him  to  stop 
breathing  for  the  time  being,  for  the  one  would  have 
been  quite  as  possible  as  the  other. 

He  had  tried  to  banish  her  from  his  mind,  but  that 
very  effort  of  will  served  but  to  make  her  the  more 
fixed  in  all  his  thoughts. 

His  nature  was  romantic  rather  than  heroic,  intense 
rather  than  strong ;  yet  its  very  weakness  was  due  to 
the  absorbing  and  engrossing  fidelity  with  which  he 
clung  t©  the  idol  of  his  heart,  believing  that  the  wo- 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  91 

man  whom  he  could  so  love  must  in  every  way  be 
worthy  of  his  adoration. 

But  he  could  not  have  felt  this  love  and  been  incapable 
of  jealousy.  He  was  quite  prepared  to  believe  in  the 
treachery  of  Captain  Featherstone ;  but  it  would  have 
been  like  a  knife  in  the  heart  even  to  suspect  Marguerite 
Holmes  of  treason. 

Had  he  been  a  white  man  he  would  have  doubted, 
or  afc  least  have  investigated  on  less  evidence ;  but  in 
matters  where  the  emotions  were  concerned  he  reasoned 
from  his  hopes,  and  all  the  innate  impulses  of  his  bar 
baric  descent  asserted  themselves. 

Without  attracting  attention  he  and  Colonel  Ellis  were 
driven  to  the  Hawaiian  Hotel,  on  the  broad  veranda  of 
which  they  found  a  number  of  United  States  naval 
omcers,  in  white  undress  uniforms.  These  gentlemen 
bowed  to  the  colonel,  but  did  not  try  to  stop  him, 
though  it  was  evident  from  the  whispering  that  fol 
lowed  his  disappearance  with  Kohala  that  they  fully 
understood  the  purport  of  his  coming. 

Strolling  about  the  ample,  palm-shaded  grounds  there 
were  a  number  of  English  naval  omcers  in  citizen's 
dress,  smoking  and  chatting  as  if  they  had  no  other 
purpose  in  mind  than  to  while  away  the  hot  hours  of 
a  tropic  afternoon. 

The  omcers  on  the  veranda  and  those  under  the  trees 
were  most  courteous  to  each  other  when  they  met,  and 
when  they  stopped  to  chat  they  discussed  everything 
but  that  which  was  uppermost  in  their  minds. 

The  most  optimistic  could  not  hide  from  himself  the 
fact  that,  within  the  week,  the  guns  of  their  respective 
ships  might  be  blazing  into  each  otherM  in  the  harbor  of 
Honolulu. 


92  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

The  Council  of  Public  Safety  was  in  session  in  the 
upper  room  before  referred  to,  and  it  was  guarded  by 
armed  men  within  and  without. 

Although  well  known  to  these  guards,  the  rules  of  the 
Council  were  so  strict  that  the  colonel  could  not  be  ad 
mitted  till  he  had  given  the  pass- word  and  countersign 
and  vouched  for  the  loyalty  of  his  companion. 

There  were  fully  thirty  earnest  white  men  present, 
and,  at  sight  of  the  colonel  and  Kohala,  they  rose  to 
their  feet  and  applauded,  to  show  their  respect  and 
delight. 

Kohala  was  personally  introduced  to  all  the  men 
present  whom  he  did  not  already  know,  and  then  he 
was  given  a  seat  beside  the  colonel,  who  took  the  pre 
siding  chair. 

Mr.  George  King,  who  had  been  acting  as  president 
during  the  colonel's  absence,  saluted,  and  said : 

"Colonel  Loring  was  about  to  give  us  a  report  of  the 
situation  from  the  standpoint  of  a  soldier ;  if  our  presi 
dent  offers  no  objections  to  this,  it  might  be  well  for 
him  to  go  on,  for  it  is  evident  to  all  of  us  that  the 
crisis  for  which  we  have  been  preparing  for  weeks 
has  at  length  come." 

"Colonel  Loring 's  report  will  be  in  order,"  said  the 
president,  and  he  stilled  the  hum  of  voices  by  rapping 
with  his  gavel  on  the  long  table  about  which  they  were 
gathered. 

Colonel  Loring  was  in  citizen's  dress,  but  a  uniform 
was  not  necessary  to  make  him  look  what  he  was,  every 
inch  the  soldier. 

Rising,  and  occasionally  refreshing  his  memory  by 
reference  to  a  note-book  which  he  held  open,  Colonel 
Loring  said : 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  93 

"Mr.  President,  and  gentlemen  of  the  Council  of  Public 
Safety,  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  assure  you  that, 
since  you  placed  me  in  command  of  the  Provisional  troops 
of  Hawaii,  I  have  done  everything  in  my  power  to  per 
fect  the  organization  and  to  make  it  efficient." 

He  was  interrupted  here  by  applause,  none  the  less 
hearty  for  its  being  suppressed. 

"We  have  at  present  about  five  hundred  men,  fairly 
well  armed  and  drilled,  and  twice  that  number  who  are 
ready  to  join  us  as  soon  as  we  need  them.  We  need 
them  now;  but,  without  arms,  they  would  be  in  the 
way  and  would  only  serve  to  add  to  our  loss  in  the 
event  of  a  conflict  with  the  forces  of  the  Queen." 

"Where  is  the  arsenal?"  asked  an  impulsive  French 
man. 

"Still  in  the  hands  of  the  authorities,  or,  I  should  say, 
it  is  in  the  keeping  of  the  creatures  of  the  Queen,"  re 
plied  Colonel  Loring. 

"Then  why  not  take  it  into  our  keeping  at  once?" 

This  suggestion  met  with  the  same  suppressed  ap 
plause,  and  the  men  about  the  table  nodded  their  ap 
proval. 

"It  is  of  that  I  would  speak,"  said  Colonel  Loring. 

"Oo  on !    Go  on  !"  came  from  all  parts  of  the  room. 

"Our  enemies  are  watching  us — ' 

"We  know  it!" 

"And  if  we  do  not  seize  the  arsenal  this  very  night 
and  so  precipitate  the  conflict,  then  the  other  party  will 
do  it,  and  they  will  be  in  a  position  to  defy  us." 

"What  force  guards  the  arsenal?"  asked  Mr.  King. 

"It  is  supposed  -to  be  watched  by  some  half-dozen  sol 
diers  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Minister  Porter  has  been 
filling  the  place  every  night  with  a  hundred  or  more 


94  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

men.  A  hundred  such  men,  if  properly  approached, 
can  offer  no  very  serious  resistance;  but  if  five  thou 
sand  men'are  gathered  there  it  will  be  very  different.  I 
have  learned  the  signal  which  the  enemy  propose  to  give 
when  they  wish  to  assemble  their  forces." 

"What  is  it?"  asked  a  dozen  men. 

"A  beacon  fire  is  to  be  lit  at  midnight  on  the  crest  of 
the  Punch  Bowl.  For  the  past  week  but  few  of  the 
Queen's  adherents  who  are  able  to  bear  arms  have  gone 
to  bed  before  morning,"  said  Colonel  Loring,  referring 
for  confirmation  to  his  note-book. 

"  Why  can  we  not  have  a  force  at  the  Punch  Bowl  to 
prevent  the  beacon?"  asked  the  president. 

"I  have  taken  care  of  that,"  replied  Colonel  Loring, 
quietly.  "Every  night,  under  a  cool,  brave  officer,  a 
band  of  our  best  men  have  been  concealed  on  the  crest 
of  the  Punch  Bowl.  If  the  fire  were  started  it  would 
be  at  once  extinguished,  and  rockets  would  announce  to 
us  that  fact  and  the  opening  of  the  contest." 

"In  such  an  event,"  said  the  president,  "what  means 
have  you  taken,  here  in  the  city,  to  announce  to  our 
friends  that  the  struggle  has  begun?" 

"We  have  men  stationed  in  all  the  belfries  of  the 
churches  and  on  all  the  towers  of  the  engine-houses.  As 
soon  as  the  rockets  are  seen  the  bells  will  announce  the 
fact  to  our  friends  and  they  will  assemble  at  places  decided 
on,  and  under  leaders  who  have  my  instructions  as  to 
what  is  to  be  done.  I  have  taken  every  precaution,  and 
I  think  you  can  trust  me,"  said  Colonel  Loring,  with  the 
modest  confidence  that  is  ever  the  characteristic  of  in 
nate  military  ability. 

With  the  calmness  but  rapidity  of  action  that  dis 
tinguishes  veterans  under  fire  the  Council  hurried 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  95 

through  a  great  deal  of  business,  and  at  its  conclusion 
every  one  present  began  to  shout : 

•'Kohala!  Kohala!  Kohala!" 

The  young  man  had  attended  public  meetings  before, 
and  so  knew  what  was  expected  of  him.  In  all  that 
had  been  done  and  was  being  done  by  the  men  present 
he  was  in  perfect  sympathy;  yet  one  may  have  a  pro 
found  sympathy  without  being  able,  publicly,  to  give 
his  reasons  for  the  same. 

Mastering  his  nervousness  with  an  evident  effort, 
Kohala  rose  to  his  feet,  and,  steadying  himself  by  hold 
ing  on  to  the  chair  on  which  he  had  been  seated,  he 
said,  in  the  clear,  melodious  accents  that  were  not  his 
least  charm : 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  a  Hawaiian  by  birth  and  blood ;  but 
I  trust  that  I  am  more  than  that,  and  that  is,  a  man  who 
is  neither  afraid  nor  ashamed  to  greet  every  other  man, 
without  regard  to  his  race  or  nationality,  as  a  brother." 

A  cheer,  that  could  not  be  restrained  and  that  must 
have  been  heard  in  all  parts  of  the  hotel,  greeted  this 
fine  sentiment. 

"I  have  neither  the  experience  nor  the  wisdom  to  ad 
dress  men  so  much  older  than  myself,"  he  continued, 
"but  I  am  not  so  dull  as  not  to  understand  my  country's 
present  unhappy  situation.  Thanks  to  Colonel  Ellis,  I 
have  been  opposed  to  hereditary  monarchs  ever  since 
I  began  to  reason.  This  I  say,  though  well  aware  that 
my  own  prominence  in  this  movement  is  entirely  due 
to  the  fact  that,  in  line  of  descent,  I  am  the  rightful 
heir  to  the  throne  of  Hawaii." 

Again  the  applause  broke  out,  and  admiration  glowed 
in  the  eyes  of  the  men  who  heard  the  young  orator.  He 
went  on : 


96  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

"My  rights  to  the  throne  I  shall  never  press.  I  be 
lieve  that  all  rulers  should  be  elected,  and  Hawaii  must 
be  no  exception.  To  achieve  this  end,  command  my 
fortune  and  my  life ;  but,  gentlemen,  there  is  one  thing 
you  must  not  insist  on." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  a  member. 

"That  I  shall  help  you  to  establish  here  a  free  repub 
lic,  and  that  I  shall  inaugurate  that  republic  by  marrying 
for  reasons  of  State." 

This  produced  some  laughter  and  many  questioning 
looks. 

"An  alliance  between  myself  and  the  daughter  of  the 
chief  of  Hawaii  might  be  good  policy,  as  kings  under 
stand  it.  Mark  you,  the  daughter  of  the  chief  is  far 
too  good  for  me ;  but  you  should  not  insist  on  treating 
me  like  the  heir  to  a  throne  by  selecting  a  wife  for  me, 
when  you  tell  me  I  am  to  be  a  free  citizen  in  a  free 
land.  My  friends,  that  is  all  I  have  to  say." 

The  applause  broke  out  again  when  Kohala  sat  down, 
and,  while  it  was  evident  that  a  majority  of  those  pres 
ent  indorsed  his  views,  it  was  equally  evident  that  all 
were  disappointed,  for  the  allegiance  of  the  chief  Keona 
who  was  not  a  republican,  was  essential  to  the  success  of 
their  plans. 

Colonel  Ellis  admired  the  evidence  of  ability  shown  by 
Kohala,  though  disappointed,  and  comforted  himself 
with  the  belief  that  the  young  man  would  change  his 
mind  as  to  the  daughter  of  the  chief  when  he  learned 
for  himself  that  the  woman  to  whom  he  had  given  his 
heart  was  entirely  unworthy. 

By  the  time  the  Council  had  ended  its  session  night 
had  come  to  Honolulu. 

Colonel  Ellis  told  Kohala  that  thev  were  both  to  re- 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  97 

main  at  the  Hawaiian  Hotel,  so  as  to  be  in  a  good  posi 
tion  to  receive  reports  and  to  direct  affairs. 

"I  shall  trust  you  to  direct,"  said  Kohala,  with  spirit; 
"that  is  the  provence  of  mature  men;  but  if  there  is  to 
be  action  and  danger  I  should  blush  for  myself  if  I  did 
not  share  it." 

This  was  said  in  the  presence  of  Colonel  Loring,  who, 
with  Kohala  and  the  colonel,  was  the  only  person  present 
in  the  latter 's  room. 

"Can  you  ride  well?"  asked  Colonel  Loring. 

"I  should;  I  began  as  a  boy  in  the  mountains  of  Ha 
waii,  and  I  have  never  allowed  my  skill  to  lapse  for  want 
of  use,"  replied  Kohala. 

"Then,"  said  the  colonel,  "I  shall  feel  glad  and  hon 
ored  if  you  will  serve  011  my  staff  to-night." 

"But,"  joined  in  Colonel  Ellis,  ''there  may  be  danger." 

"If  there  were  no  danger,"  said  Kohala,  proudly.  "I 
should  not  care  to  serve. ' ' 

"Spoken  like  a  true  soldier,"  said  the  gallant  young 
leader  of  the  Provisional  army,  as  he  shook  Kohala's 
hand.  "We  can  find  plenty  of  men  to  sport  uniforms 
and  pose  for  the  admiration  of  ladies  when  there  is  no 
danger :  but  the  man  who  faces  a  danger  for  principle's 
sake — and  the  danger's  sake — is  a  brother  after  my  own 
heart. ' ' 

"I  shall  not  interfere  with  Kohala's  purpose,"  said 
Colonel  Ellis.  "But  you  younger  men  must  not  forget 
that  I,  too,  am  a  soldier,  and  so  distinguish  between  duty 
and  daring.  The  leader  who  unnecessarily  exposes  him 
self  is  not  brave,  but  reckless.  A  general,  unless  the 
case  be  desperate  and  his  example  needed,  should  not 
lead  a  charge.  The  life  of  Kohala  is  of  more  impor 
tance  to  his  country  than  that  of  a  common  soldier. ' ' 


98  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Still  the  common  soldier  who  risks  his  life  for  liberty 
is  quite  as  noble  a  man  as  the  general  who  commands 
him.  For  one  night,  at  least,  I  shall  be  a  common  sol 
dier,  and  subject  to  Colonel  Loring's  command,"  said 
Kohala,  with  an  earnestness  that  had  in  it  nothing  of 
the  braggart. 

The  three  men  had  dinner  together  in  Colonel  Ellis 's 
private  sitting-room ;  but  not  one  of  them  seemed  to 
enjoy  the  meal,  so  absorbed  were  they  in  the  events 
which  the  night  was  to  bring  forth. 

Colonel  Loring  had  a  horse  provided  for  Kohala,  and 
he  saw  that  there  were  pistols  in  the  holsters  and  a 
good  supply  of  cartridges  in  the  young  man's  belt. 

They  bade  good-by  to  Colonel  Ellis,  then  rode  down 
toward  the  race-track,  picking  up  on  the  way  other 
mounted  men  and  many  men  on  foot,  all  bound  for  the 
rendezvous  where  they  had  been  assembling  since  the 
trouble  began. 

The  stars  were  hidden  by  black  clouds,  as  if  the  ele 
ments  were  in  sympathy  with  the  work  to  be  done  in 
Honolulu  that  night. 

There  were  but  few  lights  visible  in  private  houses 
there  were  but  few  people  on  the  streets,  and  a  gloom 
that  could  be  felt  hung  over  "the  Queen  City  of  the 
Pacific." 


KOHALA   OP    HAWAII.]  99 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   FIRST   BLOW   IS   STRUCK. 

THERE  were  guards  all  along  the  road  to  the  race 
track  ;  but  vigilant  though  these  men  were,  they  could 
not  prevent  the  silent,  swarming  spies  of  the  Queen 
from  watching  and  reporting  on  their  movements. 

To-riight  there  was  less  secrecy  than  heretofore.  Both 
sides  felt  that  the  time  for  action  had  come,  and  that 
the  next  twenty- four  hours  would  settle  whether  Hawaii 
was  to  be  free  or  to  remain  under  the  arbitrary  dominion 
of  a  monarch  who,  of  her  own  volition,  or  through  the 
ill-advised  influence  of  some  of  her  ministers,  had  chosen 
to  ignore  the  rights  of  her  foreign-born  subjects  and  to 
trample  under  foot  the  accepted  constitution  of  all  her 
people. 

ToKohala,  who  kept  by  Colonel  Loring's  side,  it  seemed 
as  if  the  young  leader  had  entirely  changed  his  char 
acter  since  they  rode  into  the  darkness  from  the  Ha 
waiian  Hotel. 

Ordinarily,  Colonel  Loring  was  the  embodiment  of 
courtesy;  indeed,  he  was  distinguished  for  his  easy, 
graceful  manners  and  the  entire  calm  and  self-posses 
sion  of  his  bearing;  but  while  the  latter  had  not  left 
him,  he  was  now  quick  and  peremptory  in  his  man 
ner.  His  voice  had  in  it  a  ring  that  insured  obedience, 
and  his  every  act  told  of  a  brain-directed  energy  that 
stirred  his  men  and  filled  them  with  confidence,  for 
soldiers,  in  or  on  the  eve  of  action,  ever  admire  a  com 
mander  who  can  command. 

Koliala  expected  that  the  colonel  would  form  his  men 


300  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

into  companies  and  march  them  directly  down  on  the 
arsenal  and  storm  it,  if  it  were  not  at  once  surrendered ; 
but  in  this  he  was  disappointed. 

Through  a  swarm  of  orderlies  who  stood  ready  to  do 
his  bidding  the  colonel  assembled  all  his  subordinate 
officers,  and,  as  in  the  darkness  he  called  each  man  by 
name,  he  gave  him  his  special  orders  and  saw  before  he 
retired  that  he  understood  them  without  fear  of  mis 
take. 

As  each  subordinate  was  given  instructions  and  told 
where  he  must  assemble  his  men  in  the  city,  and  what 
he  was  to  do  when  the  bells  pealed  forth  their  signal, 
he  started  off  promptly  to  enforce  the  command. 

In  less  than  half  an  hour  after  their  reaching  the 
rendezvous,  so  perfect  had  been  all  the  preliminaries,  the 
organized  troops,  in  small  bodies  and  by  different  routes, 
were  marching  into  the  city. 

"Now  we  are  ready,"  said  the  colonel  to  Kohala,  "let 
us  ride  back." 

"But  there  are  only  a  few  men  with  us,"  said  Kohala, 
as  he  looked  about  at  the  half-dozen  silent,  mounted  men 
who  remained  behind. 

"We  have  all  we  need  now,"  said  the  colonel,  calmly  ; 
"when  we  need  more,  depend  on  it  they  will  be  forth 
coming.  ' ' 

They  turned  back  to  the  city,  the  glow  of  whose 
lamps  looked  blood-red  on  the  lowering  clouds. 

The  other  horsemen  fell  in  behind,  but  not  a  word 
was  spoken.  The  time  for  talk  was  past,  and  the  hour 
for  action  had  come. 

The  horsemen  halted  in  a  churchyard  back  of  the 
palace  and  not  a  pistol-shot  from  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  101 

Here  all  dismounted,  and  they  found  men  awaiting  to 
hold  their  horses. 

"Keep  by  my  side,  Kohala, "  said  Colonel  Loring,  as 
a  man  came  up  with  a  dark-lantern  and  asked : 

"Are  you  ready  to  go  up,  sir?" 

"I  am."  said  the  colonel;  "lead  the  way,  Phipps." 
t  The  man  with  the  lantern  unlocked  the  church  door, 
and,  when  the  colonel,  Kohala  and  the  two  men  who 
were  to  act  as  a  signal  corps  had  entered,  the  door  was 
closed  again  and  the  slide  of  the  lantern  thrown  back, 
so  as  to  show  the  winding  stairs  leading  up  to  the  steeple 
and  belfry. 

The  steeple  ended  in  a  tower  in  which  hung  a  bell, 
and  as  soon  as  the  party  reached  the  little  platform  at 
the  end  of  the  last  stairs  the  light  was  hidden  again. 

Kohala  looked  over  the  rail,  and  the  gas  lamps  and 
electric  lights  revealed  the  city  at  his  feet.  By  the  glare 
of  the  lamps  before  the  Parliament  House  he  could  see 
the  heroic  gold  and  bronze  statue  of  his  famed  ancestor, 
King  Kamehameha,  and  his  heart  was  stirred  to  emula 
tion  of  that  great  chieftain's  deeds. 

The  palace  seemed  to  be  wrapped  in  darkness ;  even 
the  two  lamps  at  the  great  entrance  gate  burned  with  a 
duller  glow  than  iisual. 

The  Hawaiian  Hotel  was,  in  contrast  with  its  stygiaii 
surroundings,  fairly  ablaze  with  light,  and  Kohala  could 
see  the  silhouettelike  figures  of  men  moving  swiftly 
across  the  illuminated  spaces. 

Down  by  the  piers  and  out  in  the  harbor  he  saw  the 
colored  lights  that  marked  the  port  and  starboard  sides 
of  warships  and  merchant  ships  at  anchor ;  and  far  out 
beyond  all  these  he  saw  the  phosphorescent  glow  of  the 
breakers  on  the  barrier  reef  and  he  heard  the  incessant 


102  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

and  rhythmic  booming  that  followed  their  recession  and 
advance. 

After  this  survey  he  faced  to  the  north.  In  that  di 
rection  lay  the  Punch  Bowl,  from  which  the  expected 
signal  was  to  come,  and  in  which  direction  every  face 
was  turned. 

But  absorbing  though  the  situation  was,  Kohala  could 
not  remain  indifferent,  even  under  such  circumstances, 
to  the  one  object  that  he  could  not  banish  from  his  mind. 
Soldiers  on  the  battlefield,  with  the  thunder  of  guns  and 
the  crimson  carnage  of  death  about  them,  have  been  car 
ried  in  imagination  back  to  the  days  of  their  boyhood, 
when  they  gathered  wild  flowers  in  the  woods  or  fol 
lowed  the  droning  wild  bee  to  her  hive ;  but  there  was 
nothing  so  startlingly  psychological  in  the  thoughts  of 
Kohala. 

"If  it  were  day,"  so  he  reasoned,  'fl  could  see  the  cot 
tage  where  she  lives."  She  was  to  him  so  bright,  so  self- 
luminous,  that  he  felt  pained  to  think  that  she  must  be 
in  darkness,  for  he  could  not  see  the  glimmer  of  a  light 
in  or  about  the  place  where  she  lived. 

From  his  reverie— a-nd  in  love  reveries  time  flies  fast 
and  unnoticed — he  was  roused  by  the  low  hum  of  the 
voices  about  him,  and  he  heard  Colonel  Loring  saying 
to  the  man  with  the  dark-lantern  : 

"Phipps,  have  you  a  watch?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 

"Step  down  where  the  light  cannot  be  seen  and  let  me 
know  what  time  it  is." 

Phipps  descended  the  steps  some  distance,  a  flash  of 
light  came  up  and  vanished,  then  he  reappeared  and 
said: 

"It  is  just  half -past  eleven,  sir." 


KOHAL.A   OF    HAWAII.  103 

"Another  long  half -hour  to  wait,"  said  a  man  beside 
the  colonel. 

"Have  patience,"  was  the  young  soldier's  laughing 
response.  "You  may  have  more  to  do  than  you  can 
well  attend  to  before  the  night  is  over. ' ' 

"Ay,  faith,"  said  Phipps,  who  spoke  with  the  accent 
of  an  Irishman,  "and  it  may  be  that  the  man  who'll  live 
to  see  daylight  may  find  himself  dead." 

Another  man  was  about  to  speak,  but  checked  himself, 
for  suddenly  a  light  flashed  out  from  the  dome  of  the 
palace  and  it  lit  up  the  standard  of  Hawaii. 

This  was  unusual,  for  it  had  been  the  custom  to  lower 
the  flag  with  the  sunset  gun,  and  Colonel  Loring  was 
more  than  ever  confident  that  the  Queen's  adherents 
were  on  the  alert,  and  that  the  hour  for  action  had 
come. 

Following  the  appearance  of  the  flag  above  the  palace 
a  cheer,  or,  rather,  a  shrill  yell,  came  up  from  the  streets, 
and  the  pounding  of  galloping  hoofs  could  be  heard. 

At  this  juncture  a  man,  who  had  made  his  way  up  the 
dark  stairs,  found  Colonel  Loring  and  said  : 

"I  am  ordered  to  report,  sir,  that  there  is  a  great  crowd 
of  natives  gathering  about  the  palace." 

"We  must  expect  that.  How  about  the  arsenal?" 
asked  the  colonel. 

"There  is  no  change  there,  sir." 

"Very  well.  Report  to  our  friends  to  stand  ready  for 
the  signal.  They  will  hear  it  and  see  it  within  ten  min 
utes." 

.  The  man  ciept  down  again,  and  the  quick  fall  of  his 
feet  was  still  echoing  in  the  steeple  when  an  exclama 
tion  burst  from  the  men  whose  faces  had  been  peering 


104  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

northward  for  what  seemed  to  them  an  interminable* 
time. 

"They've  lit  the  beacon  !"  cried  one. 

From  the  head  of  the  Punch  Bowl  a  fountain  of  flame 
leaped  into  the  sky,  transforming  the  picturesque  hill 
into  a  volcano,  as  it  had  been  of  old. 

"Make  ready  the  rockets,  Phipps,"  said  the  colonel, 
his  voice  as  calm  as  if  there  were  no  crisis  at  hand. 

"All  ready,  sir,"  was  the  response. 

Higher  and  higher  rose  the  flames  from  the  crest  of 
the  Punch  Bowl,  and  again  the  shrill  cheer  came  up  from 
the  direction  of  the  palace. 

"It's  gone  again!"  cried  a  number  of  men,  unable  to 
suppress  their  excitement,  for  the  fountain  of  flame  died 
out  as  suddenly  as  it  had  appeared. 

"Have  the  matches  ready,  Phipps." 

"Ready  they  are,  sir." 

A  few  seconds  of  intense  darkness  over  the  Punch 
Bowl,  then,  like  a  pencil  of  light  drawn  swiftly  against 
the  black  background  of  the  night,  a  rocket  rose  up  to 
ward  the  lowering  clouds,  curved  gracefully  downward, 
then  exploded,  and  was  followed  by  a  shower  of  globes, 
red,  white  and  blue. 

Two  more  rockets  followed  in  quick  succession.  Then 
Phipps,  under  the  colonel's  orders,  struck  a  match,  and 
three  rockets,  with  scarcely  an  interval  of  time  between 
their  appearance,  shot  up  from  the  belfry  and  exploded 
directly  over  the  palace. 

"The  bell,  Phipps!" 

The  bell  began  to  clang  at  once.  A  deep,  hoarse  cheer 
rang  up  from  the  streets.  From  tower  and  steeple  other 
bells  clanged  out  the  alarm,  and  down  by  the  shore  there 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  105 

was  seen  a  flash,  followed  by  the  ominous  booming  of  a 
gun. 

"Now  for  the  arsenal !  Keep  close  beside  me,  Kohala !" 
said  the  colonel,  as,  with  lantern  held  high  above  his 
head,  for  there  was  no  longer  need  for  disguise,  he  led 
the  way  to  the  ground,  while  the  bell  kept  up  its  clang 
ing  as  if  it  had  gone  mad  or  was  being  rung  by  a  mad- 
nian. 

"Keep  the  horses  here;  we  shall  not  need  them  at 
present,"  said  the  colonel,  to  the  men  waiting  below. 

There  was  110  excitement  in  his  voice  and  no  sign  of 
nervousness  in  his  manner,  yet  Kohala,  who  kept  close 
to  his  side  as  he  ran  for  the  arsenal,  could  see  by  the 
light  of  the  lamps  past  which  they  dashed  that  there 
was  an  awful,  an  unconquerable  earnestness  in  the  young 
soldier's  face. 

There  was  not  a  policeman  to  be  seen.  At  the  sight  of 
the  rockets  from  the  steeple  and  the  first  clanging  of  the 
bells  the  bravest  of  them  had  vanished. 

Bugle  calls  and  hoarse  commands  down  the  side  streets 
where  the  volunteers  had  been  impatiently  waiting,  the 
quick  tramp,  as  of  trained  soldiers,  the  galloping  of  order 
lies  and  the  frightened  cries  of  women  and  children  in 
the  houses,  told  that  the  revolution,  so  long  dreaded  by 
the  people  of  Honolulu,  had  come. 

Colonel  Loring  took  a  position  near  the  arsenal,  but 
Kohala  noticed  that,  since  leaving  the  steeple,  he  had 
not  issued  an  order,  nor  was  there  any  occasion  for  his 
doing  so.  His  orders  were  given  in  advance,  and  so  per 
fect  were  all  the  details  that  his  subordinates  promptly 
marched  their  men  to  the  places  that  had  been  assigned 
them,  and  there  halted  till  they  should  hear  the  bugles 
sound  for  the  assault  011  the  arsenal. 


106  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Although  the  Queen's  adherents  had  long  been  expect 
ing  this  very  thing  it  came  upon  them  with  all  the  force 
of  a  surprise,  for  their  work  was  checked  in  its  very  in 
ception  by  Colonel  Loring's  signal  corps. 

Had  the  beacon  been  permitted  to  burn  on  the  hill  for 
twenty  minutes,  as  its  designers  intended,  the  native 
force  and  the  foreigners  who  took  the  side  of  the  Queen 
would  have  rallied  at  the  palace  and  marched  at  onco 
on  the  arsenal.  But  the  extinguishing  of  the  light  and 
the  red  glare  of  the  rockets,  with  the  answering  rockets 
from  the  steeple,  and  the  clanging  of  the  bells,  with  the 
sudden  movement  of  large  bodies  of  armed  men  along 
the  streets,  had  a  most  demoralizing  effect  on  the  men 
who,  but  one  short  hour  before,  were  so  confident  of 
success  that  they  expected  to  see  every  objectionable 
American  on  the  warship  Boston  the  following  morn 
ing. 

With  his  drawn  sword  grasped  firmly  in  his  right 
hand  Colonel  Loring,  now  reasonably  well  assured  that 
he  was  master  of  the  situation,  advanced  to  the  main 
door  of  the  arsenal  and  knocked  for  admission. 

After  waiting  long  enough  for  a  response  without  re 
ceiving  any,  he  rapped  again,  saying,  at  the  same  time : 

"Open  at  once,  or  I  shall  break  in  the  door." 

"Who  is  there?"  asked  a  man  in  the  voice  of  a  native. 

"II"  was  the  response. 

"Who  are  you?" 

"Colonel  Arthur  Loring,  of  the  Provisional  Army." 

"I  know  no  such  man  nor  no  such  army." 

"Then  you  had  better  make  our  acquaintance.  Come, 
my  man,  I  am  in  no  mood  for  parleying." 

"But  I  was  placed  here  with  my  men  to  protect  the 
Queen's  property,"  said  the  man. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII,  107 

"There  is  no  longer  a  Queen  in  Honolulu,"  answered 
the  colonel. 
•    "Where 'is  Her  Majesty?" 

"There  is  no  such  person  as  Her  Majesty.  "Will  you 
open?"  and  the  colonel  beat  on  the  door  with  the  hilt  of 
his  sword,  while  a  dozen  brawny  men  appeared  with  a 
beam  which  they  proposed  to  use  as  a  battering  rain. 

"Hold  up  !  we  surrender  !"  cried  the  man  from  within. 

Following  this,  lights  were  seen  inside  the  building,  the 
massive  door  was  opened  and  the  native  soldiers  and  a 
number  of  natives  with  a  few  white  men,  all  armed,  came 
out.  one  at  a  time,  and  by  the  light  of  the  improvised 
torches  of  Loring's  men  they  laid  down  their  weapons 
and  were  placed  under  guard. 

Again  a  bugle  sounded,  arid  the  company  that  had  been 
detailed  to  take  charge  of  the  arsenal  after  its  surrender 
marched  in  while  the  others  fell  into  line  like  veterans, 
and,  with  the  colonel  at  their  head,  advanced  quickly 
toward  the  palace,  not  many  hundred  yards  away. 

There  was  no  longer  a  guard  before  the  entrance.  The 
lights  were  extinguished  in  the  great  hall,  and  a  timid 
Chinese  gardener  met  the  colonel  at  the  steps  and  said : 

"The  Queen,  she  not  here." 

"Where  is  she?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"She  go  way." 

"Where  to?" 

"Me  not  know,"  whined  the  man. 

"Go up,"  said  the  colonel,  to  one  of  his  men,  "and  take 
down  the  flag  of  Hawaii." 


108  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   QUEEN  STILL   DEFIANT. 

ONE  thing  that  has  favored  the  continuance  of  heredi 
tary  rulers  is  the  fact  that  they  have  been  credited  with 
qualities  which  they  ought  to  have  had,  but  which  they 
rarely,  if  ever,  possessed. 

Queen  Liliuokalani  might  have  urged  her  sex  as  a 
reason  to  account  for  her  want  of  physical  courage 
were  it  not  that  in  times  of  great  danger,  and  even  in 
the  face  of  death,  women  who  were  not  queens  have 
shown  a  nerve  and  undaunted  front  such  as  the  bravest 
man  could  scarcely  hope  to  emulate. 

The  Queen  of  Hawaii  committed  the  fatal  blunder  of 
underestimating  the  force  and  resolution  of  her  oppo 
nents,  and  of  overestimating  the  strength  and  fidelity  of 
her  adherents. 

It  has  been  said  that  any  man  will  make  a  good  sol 
dier  if  well  trained  and  properly  led ;  but,  with  the 
exception  of  the  handful  of  palace  guards,  whose  occu 
pation  hitherto  had  been  entirely  ornamental,  the 
Queen's  followers  were  untrained,  and,  still  worse,  she 
had  little  politicians  for  leaders  instead  of  resolute  sol 
diers  when  the  revolution  came  which  she  had  herself 
invoked. 

It  was  the  belief  of  Her  Majesty  and  her  friends  that 
there  would  be  fighting  at  the  arsenal  and  in  and  about 
the  palace ;  so,  as  a  matter  of  prudence,  she  went  in  dis 
guise  to  the  house  of  a  friend  a  short  distance  away,  and 
there  confidently  awaited  the  outcome  of  the  struggle. 

It  had  always  been  the  custom,  as  with  more  power 
ful  monarchs,  to  keep  the  royal  standard  floating  over 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  109 

the  palace  in  the  daytime  when  the  Queen  was  present. 
It  was,  no  doubt,  to  create  the  impression  of  her  pres 
ence  after  she  had  fled  that  some  of  her  foolish  friends 
raised  the  flag  at  midnight  and  illuminated  it  with 
lanterns  for  the  delusion  of  the  people — but  it  failed 
of  its  purpose,  if  such  was  the  intent. 

From  first  to  last  it  was  never  the  purpose  of  the 
Council  of  Public  Safety  to  injure  the  person  of  the 
Queen,  nor,  indeed,  to  shed  a  drop  of  blood  unless  its 
army  was  assailed  and  forcedly  resisted  in  the  perform 
ance  of  duties  demanded  by  the  crisis. 

In  addition  to  the  gallant  Colonel  Loring's  personal 
feelings  in  the  matter  the  Council  had  commanded  him 
to  protect,  at  every  hazard,  the  person  of  the  Queen ;  so 
that  she  might  have  remained  in  the  palace  with  per 
fect  safety  to  herself  and  her  household  servants. 

The  Queen  was  anxiously  awaiting  the  lighting  of  the 
beacon  fire  on  the  Punch  Bowl  when  Lan,  the  young 
man  who  had  brought  her  the  news  of  Kohala's  arrival 
with  Colonel  Ellis,  came  into  the  darkened  sitting-room 
in  the  house  to  which  she  had  fled  and  said : 

"Your  Majesty,  it  is  as  we  have  feared,  Kohala  is 
with  the  insurgents  to-night." 

"How  know  you  this?"  she  demanded,  in  an  angry 
voice. 

"I  saw  him  myself  riding  out  with  the  man  they  call 
Colonel  Loring  to  the  rendezvous  at  the  race-track." 

The  Queen  rose,  and  raising  her  arms  tragically,  she 
cried  out: 

"Kohala  is  rushing  to  his  own  ruin  fast  enough;  but 
if  I  had  true  friends  about  me  he  would  not  be  per 
mitted  to  torment  me  in  this  way." 


110  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

She  waved  her  hand  toward  the  door,  and  Lan  van 
ished. 

At  the  same  time  that  she  left  the  palace  for  this  house 
the  Queen  sent  for  Marguerite  Holmes,  the  messenger 
having  orders  to  fetch  the  lady  back  with  him. 

Lan  had  just  taken  his  departure  when  another  tap 
was  heard  at  the  door,  and  Mrs.  Holmes,  very  ashy  and 
with  a  pained,  anxious  look  in  her  eyes,  yet  entirely 
self-possessed  in  her  manner,  came  in. 

Hitherto  the  Queen  had  been  effusive  in  her  demon 
strations  on  meeting  the  little  Englishwoman ;  but  now 
the  savage,  usually  dormant  in  her  passionate  nature, 
asserted  itself. 

As  if  talking  to  a  servant  with  whom  she  had  good 
cause  to  be  angered,  the  Queen  said : 

"I  sent  for  you  this  afternoon  ;  why  did  you  not  come 
to  meV 

"I  was  absent  at  the  time,"  said  Mrs.  Holmes,  de 
murely. 

"But  you  found  my  note  awaiting  you?'' 

The  Queen  plumped  into  the  chair  from  which  she 
had  risen;  but,  although  etiquette  required  that  her 
visitor  could  not  imitate  the  royal  conduct  without  the 
royal  command,  Mrs.  Holmes  sat  quietly  down  and 
said,  with  well-bred  calmness: 

"I  was  not  at  all  \vell  when  I  got  home,  and  so  I  lay 
down." 

"But  you  first  read  nay  note?"  said  the  Queen,  hotly. 

"Your  Majesty,  I  did  not  read  your  note." 

"Pray  why  not?" 

"Because  it  was  not  handed  me  till  I  got  up." 

"But  you  have  a  servant?" 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty." 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  Ill 

"And  she  knew  the  note  was  from  me?" 

"Only  that  it  was  from  the  palace." 

"But  that  should  mean  me  !  You  never  had  a  friend 
at  the  palace  but  myself,  and  now  you  haven't  one  in  it 
or  out  of  it,"  said  the  Queen,  hot  with  anger. 

"I  am  sorry  if  I  have  angered  Your  Majesty,"  said 
Marguerite  Holmes,  rising  with  quiet  dignity  and  add 
ing:  "You  see  I  have  obeyed  your  second  request.  Is 
it  to  pour  your  wrath  upon  me  when  others  have  ex 
cited  it  that  you  have  sent  for  me?" 

"No,  it  is  not." 

"May  I  ask  the  wishes  of  Your  Majesty?"  said  the 
little  woman,  choking  down  a  sob,  "for  I  am  still  far 
from  strong." 

"Sit  down!" 

The  Queen  waved  her  hand  to  the  chair  from  which 
Marguerite  had  risen.  She  sat  down,  interlocked  her 
thin  fingers,  as  was  her  habit  when  perplexed,  and 
waited. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  the  Queen,  in  a  lower  if  not  a 
milder  tone,  "that  Kohala  is  now  in  Honolulu?" 

"I  learned  it  not  an  hour  ago,"  replied  Marguerite. 

"From  himself?" 

"No,  Your  Majesty;  from  Captain  Featherstone. " 

"Captain  Featherstone?" 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty." 

"And  you  permit  him  to  visit  you  still?" 

"I  cannot  help  it,  Your  Majesty." 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  he  does  not  know  my  secret." 

"Then  he  treats  you  as  a  lover?" 

"As  a  friend." 

"Friend!"  sneered  the  Queen.     "I  am  not  a  fool!    I 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 


have  never  liked  your  friend,  for  I  know  him  to  be 
what  many  people  say  you  are." 

"May~I  ask  Your  Majesty  what  that  is?" 

"An  adventurer!"  hissed  the  Queen. 

Marguerite  made  an  effort  as  if  to  rise.  At  the  sound 
of  the  word  "adventurer"  she  started  like  a  spirited 
horse  at  the  touch  of  the  unaccustomed  spur  ;  but  she 
restrained  herself,  though  she  could  not  trust  herself  to 
speak. 

The  Queen  half  closed  her  eyes,  till  they  looked  like 
two  dark  luminous  slits,  and  the  heavy  lips  were  com 
pressed,  as  if  she  were  making  an  effort  to  control  her 
self.  At  length  she  asked  : 

"Do  you  not  think  it  strange  that  Koliala  should  come 
to  Honolulu  without  at  once  calling  011  you?" 

"In  these  troublesome  times,  Your  Majesty.  I  do  not 
know  what  to  think,"  was  the  response,  and  Margue 
rite  Holmes  pressed  her  hands  to  her  eyes  and  hastily 
withdrew  them. 

"Do  you  still  believe  he  loves  you?" 

"I  can  see  no  reason  for  his  changing,"  said  Margue 
rite,  the  trembling  hands  again  pressed  to  her  eyes. 

"Young  men  often  have  strange  fancies,  which  they 
imagine  to  be  love." 

"So  I  have  heard,  Your  Majesty." 

"Mrs.  Holmes?" 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty." 

"You  must  find  Kohala  at  once  and  fetch  him  to  me." 

"But  if  I  cannot  do  so?" 

"Cannot!     You  must,  or  — 

The  Queen  hesitated,  and  the  slits  grew  narrower  and 
the  compression  of  the  lips  gave  her  a  fierce  expression. 

"Or  what.  Your  Majesty?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  113 

"Or  I  shall  give  your  secret  to  the  world.  Now,  find 
him  and  fetch  him." 

The  Queen  stood  up,  and  Marguerite  Holmes  rose  with 
an  effort  and  tottered  from  the  room. 

As  if  her  departure  were  the  signal,  rockets  went 
whizzing  into  the  air  as  soon  as  she  had  gained  the 
street  and  all  the  church  bells  and  fire  bells  began  to 
clang. 

Marguerite  let  fall  her  veil,  while  all  about  her  she 
could  hear  the  thunder  of  flying  hoofs  and  the  tramping 
of  men.  Shrill  yells  in  the  distance  and  hoarse  cheers 
near  by  indicated  to  her  the  whereabouts  of  the  rival 
factions. 

Running  rather  than  walking,  and  avoiding  the  illu 
minated  places,  Marguerite  Holmes  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  her  cottage. 

She  found  Clem  awaiting  her,  and  looking,  as  she 
always  did,  as  stolid  and  sleepless  as  a  sphynx. 

"Get  me  a  little  wine,  Clem!"  gasped  Marguerite,  as 
she  dropped  into  a  chair  and  let  her  arms  fall  helplessly 
by  her  side. 

Without  any  expression  of  sympathy  in  voice,  face 
or  manner  Clem  brought  her  mistress  a  glass  of  sherry, 
waited  till  she  had  sipped  it  down,  then  took  the  glass, 
and,  turning  it  round  between  her  thumb  and  finger, 
said,  in  her  low,  mechanical  voice : 

"He's  been  here  to  see  you,  mem." 

"Whom  do  you  mean,  Clem?"  and  Marguerite  looked 
up  with  more  interest. 

"The  young,  dark-complexioned  prince." 

"Kohala?" 

"Yes,  mem,  and  he  was  rare  disappointed  not  to  find 
you." 


114  KOHALA   OP    HAWAII. 

"Which  way  did  he  go?" 

In  her  anxiety  Marguerite  rose  to  her  feet  and  began 
putting  on  the  gloves  she  had  taken  off. 

"You  told  me  not  to  say  where  you'd  gone,  mem,  so, 
when  he  asked,  I  said  I  didn't  know." 

"What  else  did  he  say?'' 

"He  asked  if  Captain  Featherstone  was  in  the  habit 
of  coining  here  very  often." 

"And  what  did  you  reply?" 

"I  said  not  too  often  to  wear  out  his  welcome,  for  he 
was  a  great  friend  and  a  countryman  of  yours." 

"You  should  not  have  told  him  anything  about  it," 
said  Marguerite,  a  faint  flush  coming  to  her  cheeks. 

"But  it  was  the  truth,  and  I  could  not  help  it.  Oh. 
he's  a  rare  fine  gentleman,  he  is,  even  if  his  skin  is  dark, 
for  he  slipped  a  bit  of  American  goold  into  my  hand. ' ' 

"And  that  was  all  he  said?" 

"Every  word,  mem." 

"And  he  didn't  say  when  he'd  return?" 

"No." 

"Nor  where  he  was  to  be  found?" 

"Not  a  word  of  anything  like  that,  mem,  I  assure 
you, ".said  Clem,  as  she  backed  to  the  door. 

As  Marguerite  made  no  effort  to  detain  her  Clem  kept 
up  her  backing  till  she  had  passed  the  door  and  closed  it 
behind  her. 

She  went  to  the  little  dining-room,  but  before  setting- 
down  the  glass  in  which  she  had  brought  the  sherry, 
she  helped  herself  to  two  glasses,  draining  each  at  a 
gulp,  and  muttering  to  herself  as  she  did  so:  "Ah,  me! 
this  is  a  sad,  sad,  wicked  world,  and  every  one  in  it 
seems  to  be  workin'  for  himself  and  not  thinkin'  of  no* 
one  else." 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  115 

The  person  overhearing  this  might  be  led  [to  believe 
that  Clem  was  herself  a  praiseworthy  exception  to  the 
selfishness  peculiar  to  all  the  rest  of  humanity ;  but,  as 
will  be  shown,  she  was  not  beyond  temptation,  particu 
larly  when  it  came  in  the  form  of  gold,  for  which  she 
had  the  universal  human  fondness. 

Waiting  in  the  dark,  for  she  had  extinguished  the 
light  in  her  own  room,  till  assured  that  her  mistress  was 
in  bed,  if  not  asleep,  Clem  crept  softly  out  through  the 
window  that  opened  on  the  piazza,  then,  with  a  cloak 
about  her  gaunt  form  and  a  man's  hat  pulled  down  over 
her  eyes  so  that  her  sex  was  disguised  in  the  indistinct 
light,  she  made  her  way  to  the  rear  of  the  Hawaiian 
Hotel. 

On  nearing  the  place  she  slackened  her  pace  and  moved 
with  more  caution.  At  length  a  dark  figure  rose  up  be 
fore  her,  but,  instead  of  being  startled,  she  asked,  with 
out  a  tremor  in  the  wooden  voice : 

"Is  that  you,  Mr.  Phipps?" 

"Faith,  me  darlint,"  was  the  laughing  response  of-the 
man  who  had  guided  Colonel  Loring  into  the  steeple, 
"it's  mesel'  and  no  one  else.  And  it's  tired  enough  I  am 
waitin'  here  for  you." 

Phipps  gave  her  his  arm,  led  her  into  the  hotel  by  the 
back  way ,  and  so  conducted  her  to  the  chamber  where 
the  Council  was  in  session. 


116  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WHERE    IS    KOHALA? 

COLONEL  ELLIS,  with  a  half-dozen  friends,  was  in  the 
room  in  which  the  Council  held  its  meetings,  awaiting 
the  outcome  of  the  night's  work,  of  which,  judging  by 
the  confident  expression  on  the  faces  of  all  the  men 
present,  no  one  seemed  to  entertain  any  doubt. 

Every  few  minutes  a  messenger  came  in  to  report  the 
progress  of  the  men  under  Colonel  Loring,  and  each  of 
these  confirmed  the  hope  that  the  revolution  would  be 
as  bloodless  as  it  was  wide-reaching  in  its  effects. 

Escorting  Clem,  Phipps,  who  had  been  elected  a  mes 
senger  of  the  Council,  gave  the  pass-word  at  the  guarded 
door,  vouched  for  the  fidelity  of  the  strangely  attired 
woman  and  entered.  ~~^ 

As  soon  as  the  door  was  closed  behind  her  Clem  re 
moved  her  hat  from  her  stringy-looking  head,  threw  her 
cloak  over  her  arm,  man-fashion,  and  bowed  on  rather 
stiff  hinges  to  the  gentleman  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

The  colonel  had  evidently  met  this  strange  woman  be 
fore,  for  he  nodded  to  her,  just  as  if  she  were  a  man  with 
whom  he  was  forced  to  have  unpleasant  dealings,  and, 
pointing  to  a  chair  at  his  left  hand,  said : 

"Glad  to  see  you  are  still  alive,  Mrs.  Clem.  Sit  down, 
and  tell  me  if  this  uproar  has  excited  your  nerves." 

"  I  ain't  got  no  iiarves,"  she  said,  grimly,  whereat  the 
men  about  the  table  laughed. 

"That  is  the  one  thing" — the  colonel  was  going  to  add, 
"and  the  only  thing,"  but  he  did  not — "that  gives  you 
an  enviable  pre-eminence  over  all  your  sex  with  whom 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  117 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  acquainted.  Nerre,  Mrs.  Clem, 
is  an  excellent  thing  in  man  or  woman;  but  Heaven 
preserve  me  from  people  with  nerves.  Now,  I  sup 
pose  that  little  splinter  of  a  woman,  Mrs.  Holmes,  is 
just  one  bundle  of  parchment-covered  nerves." 

"It  isn't  that,  sir;  it's  want  of  strength,"  said  Clem. 
"But  as  to  gettin'  upset  when  there's  trouble  on  I  will 
say  that  she's  just  about  as  cool  a  hand  as  I  ever  met 
up  with." 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Clem,  she  is  no  doubt  a  very  remarkable 
woman;  but  where  is  she  now?"  asked  Colonel  Ellis. 

"At  home  and  in  bed,  though  I  can't  think  she's  so 
downright  cool  and  calm  as  to  sleep  such  a  night  as 
this,"  said  Clem. 

"And  she  called  on  the  Queen  to-night?" 

"She  did,  sir." 

"How  did  she  seem  when  she  came  back?" 

"She  was  right  up  and  down  rattled,  and  no  mistake, 
sir." 

"Did  she  have  any  callers  during  her  absence?" 

"Only  one,  sir." 

"Who  was  he?" 

"The  handsome  young  dark  gent." 

"What!  Kohala?" 

"Yes,  sir,  that's  his  name,  though  I  never  can  recall 
it  when  it's  wanted." 

"When  was  he  there?"  asked  the  colonel,  his  face 
growing  very  serious. 

"Just  'bout  half  an  hour  after  the  bells  began  to  ring." 

"How  long  did  he  stay?" 

"Only  while  I  was  tellin'  him  that  Mrs.  Holmes  had 
gone  out." 

"Did  you  tell  him  where  she  had  gone?" 


118  KOHALA    OF    HAWAII, 

"No,  sir." 

"But,  of  course,  you  knew?" 

"I  did,  sir." 

"And  Mrs.  Holmes  seemed  very  much  disappointed 
when  she  got  back  and  learned  that  the  young  man 
had  been  there?" 

"Yes,  sir,  she  was  that  bad  cut  up  that  I  had  to  fetch 
her  some  wine  to  keep  her  from  swoonin'  right  oiT,"  said 
Clem. 

Colonel  Ellis  stroked  his  forehead  like  a  man  much 
perplexed,  then  he  called  to  Phipps : 

"Find  Colonel  Loriiig  at  once,  and  ask  him  if  he  has 
seen  Kohala  within  the  last  hour  or  if  he  knows  where 
he  is. " 

Phipps  saluted  and  hurried  out,  and  the  colonel,  after 
a  further  talk  with  Clem,  gave  her  some  money  and 
dismissed  her. 

Within  ten  minutes  Phipps,  who  had  met  Colonel  Lor- 
ing  on  his  way  to  the  hotel,  returned  with  that  gentle 
man. 

"Why,"  said  Colonel  Loring,  when  he  heard  that 
Kohala  had  so  recently  called  on  Mrs.  Holmes,  "when 
we  reached  the  palace  I  gave  him  a  message  for  you. 
He  must  have  passed  Mrs.  Holmes  on  the  way  thither 
and  stopped  in,  for  I  recall  that  as  I  passed  the  cottage 
a  short  time  before  there  were  lights  burning  within." 

"Well,  he  did  not  report  to  me,"  said  the  colonel, 
"and,  knowing  him  as  I  do,  I  am  sure  that  he  would 
have  done  so  if  something  serious  had  not  befallen  him." 

"He  was  armed  and  knew  how  to  care  for  himself," 
Colonel  Loring  ventured  to  say,  though  he  clearly  saw 
that  this  supposition  did  not  elminate  the  element  of 
danger  from  the  question. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  119 

"If  a  man  were  as  strong  as  a  giant  and  armed  to  the 
teeth,"  said  Colonel  Ellis,  as  if  thinking  aloud,  "he 
might  still  be  as  a  child  before  the  dagger  of  an  assas 
sin. " 

"I  think  there  is  no  need  to  be  alarmed;  still,  if  you 
say  so,  I  shall  have  a  search  instituted  at  once,"  said 
Colonel  Loring. 

"I  certainly  do  say  so."  Then,  rising  to  his  feet, 
Colonel  Ellis  added :  '  'If  any  harm  has  befallen  Kohala 
I  shall  demand  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth,  if  I  have  to  shed  royal  blood  in  retaliation  !" 

Colonel  Loring  saluted,  and  went  out,  followed  by 
Phipps. 

The  young  soldier  was  not  at  all  to  blame  for  the  ab 
sence  of  Kohala.  It  was  to  give  him  something  to  do 
as  a  member  of  his  staff  that  he  sent  him  with  a  mes 
sage  to  the  chief  of  the  Council ;  and  if  Kohala  stopped 
on  the  way,  as  he  certainly  seemed  to  have  done,  the  act 
was  in  direct  violation  of  his  duty  as  a  volunteer  soldier, 
and  such  he  certainly  was  for  the  time  being. 

As  they  hurried  to  the  arsenal,  about  which  most  of 
the  soldiers  were  now  encamped,  Phipps  proved  to  be 
the  most  dismal  kind  of  a  Job's  comforter. 

"Do  you  know,  colonel,"  he  said,  "what  I've  just  been 
thinkin'?" 

"What?"  snapped  the  colonel,  who  was  too  busy  with 
his  own  thoughts  to  care  for  those  of  any  one  else. 

"That  some  of  these  Yalla  Kanakas  is  mighty  treacher 
ous." 

"So  are  some  white  men." 

'  'Thrue  for  you,  colonel ;  but  most  white  min  would 
give  a  fellow-mortal  a  chance  to  defend  himsel'.  Be- 


120  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

gorra,  I  never  did  have  110  use  for  thim  that  has  dark 
skins." 

As  the  colonel's  only  comment  was  a  disapproving 
grunt  Phipps  lapsed  into  silence. 

The  colonel  found  the  men  in  camp  about  the  armory 
in  high  spirits.  He  had  issued  an  order  against  drinking, 
but  the  unexpected  success  of  their  venture  had  intoxi 
cated  the  men  like  wine,  and  so  they  laughed  and 
cheered  and  sang,  and  when  the  colonel  came  within 
the  light  of  the  campfires  they  cheered  him  to  the  echo, 
for,  like  a  true  soldier,  he  was  very  popular  with  his  fol 
lowers. 

At  sight  of  his  face  the  uproar  was  stilled,  for  the 
men  were  quick  to  see  that  something  unusual  had  hap 
pened. 

Calling  the  officers  into  the  building  and  excluding 
all  others,  the  colonel  told  them  that  Kohala  was  miss 
ing  and  asked  their  advice  in  making  a  search. 

One  man  said : 

''Perhaps  he  has  a  sweetheart." 

Another  suggested : 

"It  may  be  that  the  young  man  got  scared." 

But  the  general  opinion  was  that  Kohala  had  either 
been  assassinated  or  captured  and  held  for  a  reward. 

"If  it's  for  a  reward,"  said  one  of  the  officers,  "we 
shall  hear  from  his  captors  in  the  morning;  but  if  he's 
done  for,  why,  it's  my  private  opinion  that  we've  seen 
the  last  of  him." 

This  view  of  the  case,  though  warranted  by  the  circum 
stances,  was  far  from  comforting  to  Colonel  Loring. 

"You,  gentlemen,"  he  said  to  the  officers  about  him, 
"have  men  in  your  commands  who  are  entirely  familiar 
with  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  city.  Call  these  men 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  121 

apart  and  tell  them  in  secret  what  I  want — that  is,  to  find 
Kohala,  dead  or  alive,  and  if  dead,  to  secure  those  who 
were  the  cause.  Mark  you,  there  is  not  a  moment  to 
spare." 

The  officers  went  out,  and,  within  five  minutes,  re 
tained  to  the  building,  each  with  from  three  to  five 
men  of  his  particular  command. 

Speaking  in  low,  earnest  tones,  the  colonel  told  the 
volunteers  his  reason  for  sending  for  them,  and  added. : 

"To  the  man  who  brings  Kohala  back,  or  reliable  news 
of  liis  whereabouts,  I  shall  give  from  my  own  pocket  a 
reward  of  one  thousand  dollars." 

Although  this  was  not  an  overpowering  inducement 
to  any  of  them,  all  of  whom  were  eager  to  assist  their 
young  commander,  it  can  be  said  that  the  tendency  of 
the  reward  was  not  to  weaken  their  efforts  or  to  dampen 
their  ardor  in  the  search.  The  men  selected  for  this  deli 
cate  undertaking  were  all  Americans,  and  so  accustomed 
to  orderly  methods  of  procedure. 

One  of  their  number,  who  at  one  time  had  been  chief 
of  police,  and  who  was  known  as  a  detective  of  unusual 
shrewdness  and  one  of  the  coolest  and  bravest  men  in 
(he  city,  was  elected  to  lead  this  extemporized  organi 
zation  for  search. 

This  man's  name  was  Blake,  and  he  was  slender  and 
smooth-faced,  slightly  bald,  and  with  a  mouth  that 
looked  to  be  lipless. 

Blake  not  only  knew  the  city,  but  he  knew  all  the 
shady  characters  in  it.  He  had  rare  powers  as  a  lin 
guist,  being  able  to  understand  the  Hawaiians  and  to 
make  himself  understood  in  their  tongue.  He  had  the 
same  facility  with  Portuguese,  Chinese  and  Japanese, 


122  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

these  nationalities  being  among  those  most  prominently 
represented  in  the  population  of  Honolulu. 

In  addition  to  these  qualifications  Blake  was  a  man  of 
energy,  and  he  had  a  fine  talent  for  organization. 

He  knew  the  worth  of  every  man  who  had  been  de 
tailed  for  the  search,  and  knew  just  where  to  place  him 
to  the  best  advantage. 

Within  a  half-hour  of  Colonel  Loring's  return  with 
Phipps  to  the  arsenal  Blake  had  mapped  out  his  plans 
and  dispatched  the  men  to  the  different  districts  as 
signed  them,  telling  them  before  they  left  to  report  to 
him  from  time  to  time  at  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 

"I  thought,"  said  Colonel  Loring  to  Blake,  when  all 
the  men  had  vanished,  "that  you  would  have  gone  out 
yourself. ' ' 

"N — no,"  said  Blake,  shaking  his  head,  "the  time  has 
not  come  for  that  yet,  and  I  hope  it  may  not  come.  I 
must  get  in  the  reports  before  I  can  act.  It  is  as  neces 
sary  to  know  what  to  avoid  under  these  circumstances  as 
it  is  to  know  what  to  look  for.  I  shall  sift  all  the  re 
ports,  and  if  the  young  man  is  not  found,  then  I  shall 
put  in  my  fine  work.  But  let  us  get  back  to  the  hotel." 

"You  go  to  Colonel  Ellis  and  tell  him  what  I  have  done 
and  what  you  are  doing.  I  shall  remain  back  till  day 
light,  when  I  will  detail  guards  to  protect  all  the  Govern 
ment  property  in  the  city,"  said  Colonel  Loring. 

Blake  saluted,  and  hurried  back,  with  Phipps,  to  the 
hotel. 

The  latter  was  stronger  than  ever  of  the  opinion  that 
Kohala  had  been  done  to  death  by  "a  knife  in  the  hand 
of  Yalla  Kanaka." 

Blake  made  no  comment  on  this,  but  he  had  scarcely 
given  his  report  to  Colonel  Ellis  before  an  incident 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  123 

transpired  that  tended  to  give  strength  to  the  theory 
of  Phipps. 

The  outer  guard  sent  in  word  that  a  native,  who  was 
known  to  be  in  the  employ  of  Colonel  Ellis,  wanted  to 
see  him. 

"Admit  him  at  once,"  said  the  colonel. 

A  young  Hawaiian,  dressed  in  a  straw  hat  and  the 
loose  blouse  and  wide  cotton  trousers  of  a  field-hand, 
came  bashfully  into  the  room,  removed  his  hat  and 
saluted  his  master. 

'"'Well,  Tom,  what  is  it?"  asked  the  colonel. 

Speaking  in  fairly  good  English,  Tom  said : 

"I  heard,  sir,  that  Kohala  was  missing.'  ' 

"Where  did  you  hear  it?" 

"From  two  white  men  who  passed  me  on  the  street 
not  ten  minutes  ago,  and  who  seemed  to  be  sent  out  to 
search,"  said  Tom. 

"And  you  came  to  tell  me  this?" 

"No,  sir;  to  tell  you  what  I  know  about  Kohala." 

"Go  on  !  go  on !"  said  the  colonel,  now  sitting  bolt  up 
right  and  looking  at  the  native  as  if  trying  to  anticipate 
his  story. 

Looking  into  his  straw  hat,  as  if  he  saw  there  the 
source  of  his  information  and  inspiration,  Tom  said : 

"I  know  Hoi.  Hoi  is  a  Hawaiian  and  a  bad,  drunken 
man.  It  was  this  noon,  and  he  was  down  by  the  water, 
sharpening  his  dagger,  as  if  it  was  a  razor.  And  I  said : 
'Hoi,  why  you  do  that?'  and  he  say,  'to  kill  a  man.'  " 

"Did  he  tell  you  whom  he  was  going  to  kill?"  asked 
the  colonel. 

"Oh,  yes ;  for  he  think  I  am  his  great  friend.  He  say : 
'Tom,  I  get  much  money  if  to-night  I  kill  a  man.  That 
man  is  young  Kohala.  Kohala,  lie  troubles  our  Queen.'  ' 


124  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"And  what  did  you  do  then?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"I  do  nothing;  but  I  think  Hoi,  he's  a  great  fool,  and 
he  is  drunk.  Then  I  think  no  more  of  what  he  say  till  I 
listen  and  hear  the  two  white  men  telling,  that  Kohala 
he  could  not  be  found.  So,  my  master,  I  come  to  tell 
you. " 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MARGUERITE  HOLMES  LEARNS  THE  NEWS. 

FOR  its  size,  there  is  not  in  the  world  a  more  entirely 
cosmopolitan  city  than  Honolulu. 

Here,  the  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Portuguese  outnum 
ber  the  natives  and  greatly  exceed  them  in  industry  and 
prosperity.  Here,  also,  are  Africans  and  representatives 
of  all  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  from  New  Zealand  to 
Formosa.  Every  European  nation  is  represented,  and, 
while  in  the  main  the  whites  are  the  best  and  the  con 
trolling  element,  yet  among  that  class  is  to  be  found  the 
most  vicious  and  desperate  criminals. 

Although  she  had  "left  the  palace"  for  what  she 
called  "prudential  reasons,"  the  Queen,  with  more 
spirit  than  wisdom,  persisted  in  regarding  herself  as 
the  ruler  of  Hawaii ;  and  she  gave  her  orders,  and  per 
sisted  in  giving  them,  till  at  length  she  realized  that 
they  were  not  carried  out,  and  then  into  her  by  no  means 
lucid  mind  the  truth  flashed  that  the  Provisional  Govern 
ment,  set  up  in  defiance  of  her  claims,  was  the  sole  au 
thority  to  be  obeyed  in  Honolulu. 

The  morning  following  the  revolution  the  American 
Minister,  in  order  to  secure  protection  to  the  property  of 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  125 

Ms  own  countrymen,  called  on  Captain  Wiltz,  of  the 
United  States  cruiser  Boston,  for  assistance,  and  that 
gallant  sailor  responded  by  sending  on  shore  a  company 
of  blue- jackets,  armed  with  rifles,  and  under  the  com 
mand  of  prudent  officers. 

The  sun  was  not  an  hour  high  before  the  flag  of  the 
Union  was  floating  from  the  turret  of  the  palace,  for, 
by  the  act  of  the  Minister,  the  Hawaiian  Government 
was,  for  the  time  being,  under  the  protection  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Queen  heard  of  this ;  indeed,  sjhe  saw  the  flag  as 
it  went  up,  yet  she  comforted  herself  with  the  belief  that 
the  offense  would  not  be  permitted  after  her  claims  were 
made  known  to  the  American  people. 

"I  shall  again  be  recognized  as  the  Queen  of  Hawaii." 
This  is  what  she  said  to  the  many  people  who  carne  to 
condole  with  her  or  to  gratify  their  curiosity  by  seeing 
what  a  deposed  Queen  looked  like. 

Early  the  next  morning  she  heard  that  a  search  was 
being  made  for  Kohala,  but  she  manifested  no  curiosity 
as  to  the  reason  of  his  absence,  though  it  may  be  that 
she  had  this  in  mind  when  she  dispatched  a  messenger 
for  Mrs.  Holmes. 

Marguerite  Holmes,  though  having  much  vital  force 
and  the  resisting  power  that  so  often  accompanies  a  high 
nervous  organization,  was  far  from  being  robust.  Wha,t- 
ever  extra  effort  she  made  was  a  draft  on  her  resources, 
which,  as  is  ever  the  case,  had  to  be  paid  back  to  that  in 
exorable  banker,  Nature,  with  compound  interest. 

It  was  near  daylight  when  she  dropped  off  into  a 
troubled  sleep,  which  might  be  described  as  unconscious 
ness  rather  than  rest,  for,  as  she  rolled  and  tossed,  she 
could  still  hear  the  whizzing  of  the  rockets,  the  cheering 


126  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

of  the  troops  and  the  still  more  alarming  clanging  of  the 
bells. 

When  she  woke  it  was  near  noon,  and  Clem  was  stand 
ing  by  the  bedside  with  a  cup  of  tea  in  her  hand,  the 
providing  of  which  was  the  first  service  she  rendered 
her  mistress  every  morning. 

Marguerite  Holmes  stroked  her  head  and  looked  about 
her  in  that  dazed,  half-awake  way  of  people  who  have 
not  had  enough  nor  the  proper  kind  of  sleep. 

"What  time  is  it,  Clem?"  she  asked,  when  the  fog  had 
cleared  from  her  still  troubled  brain. 

"It'll  be  near  noon,  mem,  I'm  thinkm',"  said  Clem, 
"and  I'd  a-brought  in  the  tea  before,  but  I  saw  you  were 
sleepin',  and  looked  tired.  I've  got  your  bath  ready } 
mem,  and  I'm  shore  you'll  look  as  fresh  as  a  pink  after 
you're  dressed." 

This  was  a  very  long  speech  for  Clem,  who  appeared 
to  be  in  excellent  spirits.  Her  mistress  nodded,  to  indi 
cate  that  her  presence  was  not  necessary,  and  then  got 
up  and  made  her  toilet,  taking  little  sips  of  tea  in  the 
pauses  which  her  physical  exhaustion  made  necessary. 

Marguerite  Holmes  went  through  the  motions  of  eat 
ing  breakfast.  Rather  a  lonely  meal  it  was,  but  the 
woman,  who  was  the  soul  of  every  gathering  in  which 
she  found  herself,  led  rather  a  solitary  life,  and  loneli 
ness  is  never  so  oppressive  as  at  meal-times. 

She  had  just  finished,  and  her  eyes  began  to  grow  a 
little  brighter,  when  Clem,  who  had  come  in  to  take 
away  the  things,  said : 

"They  had  great  carryin's  on  last  night,  mem." 

"Was  there  bloodshed?"  asked  Marguerite,  with  a 
shudder. 

"No,  mem;  tha.t  is,  there  was  no  right  up-and-down 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  127 

regular  shootin'  and  stabbin',  like  I've  heerd  about  in 
battles,  where  hundreds  and  thousands  of  men  is  killed ; 
still  they  think  there's  been  some  one  hurt." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  and  Mrs.  Holmes  pushed  the 
ripples  of  bronze  hair  back  from  her  broad,  low  fore 
head  and  looked  more  than  ever  like  a  girl  in  her  teens. 

"Of  course,  mem,  you  ain't  heard  that  the  Yankee 
sojers  has  took  the  town  and  put  their  flag  up  over  the 
palace?"  said  Clem,  purposely  avoiding  a  direct  an 
swer,  for  she  had  something  of  the  dramatic  instinct 
in  her  mental  make-up  and  wanted  to  work  her  infor 
mation  up  to  a  fitting  climax. 

"I  expected  as  much,"  said  Marguerite,  quietly.  "But 
what  about  the  bloodshed;  who  has  been  hurt?" 

"They  don't  just  know,  mem,  whether  he  has  been 
hurt  or  not  as  yet,  for  they  haven't  been  able  to  find 
him,  with  all  their  sarchin'." 

"To  find  whom,  Clem?"  asked  Marguerite,  with  in 
creasing  interest. 

"The  young  gent. " 

"What  young  gent?"  In  her  anxiety  she  fell  into 
Clem's  vernacular. 

"The  dark  young  prince — I  can  never  recall  his  name 
—  that  is  so  fond  of  you,  mem,"  and  Clem  smacked  her 
thin  lips  as  if  the  words  had  an  unusually  pleasant  taste. 

"Kohala!"  exclaimed  Marguerite,  and  the  natural 
pallor  gave  place  to  an  ashy  hue,  and  the  long-lashed 
gray  eyes  took  on  an  expression  of  indescribable  agony. 

"Yes,  mem,  that's  the  one  I  mean." 

"But  what  of  him?"  and  Marguerite  rose  from  her 
chair  and  looked  into  the  stony  eyes  and  stolid  face  of 
her  attendant. 

"The  last  thing  that's  been  heard  of  him,  mem,  dead 


128  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

or  alive,  was  when  he  called  on  you  last  night  and  you 
was  out." 

"Who  told  you  this?" 

"Oh,  mem,  detectives  and  others  has  been  here,  but  I 
told  'em  you  was  sick.  And  they  thought,  fust  off,  that 
you'd  run  away  with  him,  till  I  let  one  man  named 
Blake  look  in  the  bedroom  door  and  see  for  himself  that 
you  was  present  and  sleepin'  like  a  little  angel.  But, 
for  all  that,  I'm  shore  there's  detectives  a-watchin'  of 
the  house;  but  what  they're  doin  of  it  for  is  more  than 
I  can  make  out,"  and  Clem  actually  smiled,  something 
that  seemed  to  transform  her  into  another  but  an  equally 
repulsive  person. 

Marguerite  Holmes  stood  stroking  her  forehead  like 
one  in  a  dream ;  all  the  light  had  gone  out  of  her  eyes 
and  her  thin  lips  trembled  and  were  bloodless. 

Clem  was  beginning  to  feel  alarmed  at  this  awful  si 
lence,  and  was  about  to  propose  that  she  run  across  the 
street  and  call  in  Dr.  Wallace  when  the  bell  rang  vio 
lently.  She  answered  it,  and  came  back  to  say : 

"It's  the  same  young  man,  mem,  that's  been  here  be 
fore  from  the  Queen." 

"Admit  him,"  said  Marguerite,  hoarsely. 

"Her  Majesty  desires  me  to  say,"  said  Lan,  who,  though 
of  graceful  person,  was  anything  but  a  courtier  in  his 
manner,  "that  she'd  like  to  see  Mrs.  Holmes  just  as 
soon  as  she  can  come  to  her." 

"  Please  say  that  I  shall  come  at  once,"  said  Margue 
rite. 

Lan  vanished,  and  Mrs.  Holmes  went  to  her  room  and 
put  on  the  becoming  little  violet  bonnet  and  a  black  lace 
shawl — these  things  with  no  thought  of  effect,  but  be 
cause  they  were  the  first  that  came  to  hand. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  129 

"When  will  you  be  back,  mem?"  asked  Clem,  as  her 
mistress  stood  at  the  door,  in  a  weak,  hesitating  way. 

"I  do  not  know." 

"But  the  captain,  mem,  he  was  here  this  morniii'  and 
,told  me  not  to  wake  you,  but  I  know  he  wants  to  sec 
you  very  much.  What'll  I  say  to  him,  mem,  if  he  calls, 
as  he'll  be  most  shore  to  do,  for  he  seems  to  be  verv 
much  troubled?" 

"Say  to  him,  also,  that  you  do  not  know  when  I  shall 
return." 

"And  must  I  say  that  you  told  me  so?" 

"You  can,  if  you  see  fit." 

"He  may  not  like  it,  mem." 

"Do  as  you  are  told,  Clem ;  you  are  just  a  little  bolder 
than  I  care  to  see  you. ' ' 

Into  the  sweet,  troubled  face  there  came  for  an  in 
stant  a  mingled  expression  of  dignity  and  indignation 
that  told  more  than  volumes  that  the  little  woman  had 
not  forgotten  in  her  anguish  the  lines  that  separated  her 
from  her  servant. 

Clem  said:  "Beg  parding,  mem,"  and  stepped  back,  to 
choke  her  laughter  with  her  apron  when  her  mistress 
was  gone. 

Marguerite  Holmes  always  wore  a  veil  on  the  streets — 
one  of  those  dark,  spider-web  things  that  neither  con 
ceals  the  face  nor  seriously  interferes  with  the  vision  of 
the  wearer. 

Without  seeming  to  do  so,  as  soon  as  she  entered  the 
street  from  the  garden  surrounding  the  cottage  she  took 
a  quick  glance  up  and  down.  There  were  many  men 
in  sight,  some  of  them  detectives,  no  doubt,  and  she  felt 
that  they  were  watching  her  and  discussing  her;  but 


130  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

she  walked  on  seemingly  indifferent  to  everything  but 
her  own  torturing  thoughts. 

So  far  as  it  was  known  to  her  most  intimate  acquaint 
ances  in  Honolulu  there  was  nothing  in  this  woman 
that  indicated  depth  of  feeling  or  seriousness  of  char 
acter.  Indeed,  if  her  best  friend,  Dr.  Wallace,  were 
questioned  about  it  he  would  have  been  forced  to  con 
fess,  as  a  truthful  man,  that  Mrs.  Holmes  gave  those 
with  whom  she  came  in  contact  the  impression  of 
being  light-hearted  to  the  limit  of  frivolity,  if  not  of 
flippancy ;  yet,  with  all  this,  there  was  a  certain  inde 
scribable  dignity  about  her  in  her  lightest  moods  and 
most  trivial  times  that  indicated  something  better 
under  the  surface  than  appeared  upon  it. 

Had  Dr.  Wallace  seen  her  now,  as  she  hurried  toward 
the  house  where  the  dethroned  Queen  was  stopping, 
he  would  hardly  have  recognized  the  pallid,  drawn  and 
pain-lined  face  for  that  of  the  smiling,  sweet- voiced  little 
woman  who  had  thrown  the  net  of  her  fascinations  about 
him  and  about  others,  as  more  beautiful  and  more  intel 
lectual  women  could  not  have  done. 

Marguerite  Holmes  was  more  or  less  of  a  mystery  to 
every  one  who  knew  her,  but  to  not  one  of  them  was 
she  so  much  of  a  mystery  as  she  was  to  herself. 

As  drowning  men  are  said,  in  the  few  seconds  preced 
ing  unconsciousness,  to  see  before  their  mental  vision — 
like  a  landscape  lit  up  by  the  lightning's  flash  on  a  star 
less,  stormy  night — the  whole  panorama  of  their  lives,  so 
she,  as  she  hurried  on,  heart-tortured  and  seemingly  with 
no  destination  in  view,  saw  her  own  past,  with  its  gloom 
and  sunlight,  its  errors  and  its  good  alike,  the  results  of 
unreasoning  impulse. 

Orphaned  while  yet  a  child ;  educated  on  the  remnant 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  131 

of  a  fortune  left  by  a  spendthrift  father:  married  by 
stealth,  and  while  yet  a  schoolgirl,  to  an  Oxford  student 
unable  to  pay  his  debts,  much  less  able  to  support  her, 
the  sore  trials  of  life  came  to  her  at  a  time  when  more 
fortunate  girls  retain  still  a  fondness  for  their  dolls. 

All  this  she  saw,  as  she  had  often  seen  it  when  she 
debated  with  herself  the  question  of  continuing  the 
struggle.  She  saw  her  husband,  whose  education  at 
the  great  English  school  had  unfitted  him  for,  rather 
than  equipping  him  for,  the  battle  of  life,  growing 
weaker  and  weaker  through  the  excesses  of  his  student 
life,  which  he  had  not  the  physique  to  stand  nor  the 
means  to  continue,  After  vainly  trying  to  live  as  a 
coach  for  backward  students,  he  was  given  a  small  an 
nuity  by  a  rich  uncle  and  sent  out  to  California  to  grow 
better,  or  to  die ;  to  the  uncle,  no  doubt,  the  latter 
would  have  been  preferred. 

And  so  she  saw  herself  a  widow,  with  the  small  al 
lowance  continued.  Her  constitution,  never  strong, 
was  shattered,  and  nothing  was  left  but  the  indescribable 
charm  that  might  have  made  her  the  ornament  of  a 
happy  home  and  the  wife  of  a  worthy  man. 

All  this  Marguerite  Holmes  had  kept  to  herself,  for 
she  had  the  secretiveness  that  is  born  of  pride,  and  would 
have  assumed  an  air  of  opulence  amid  penury  and  given 
the  impression  that  she  had  been  to  a  banquet  when  she 
was  pinched  with  hunger. 

Curiously  enough  this  strange  woman  did  not  reali/c 
her  one  great  weakness,  and  that  was  her  desire  to  be 
admired,  to  make  an  impression  on  men,  not  so  much 
for  the  sake  of  provoking  love  as  to  excite  admiration, 
not  so  much  to  bring  men  under  her  influence  as  to  feel 
that  she  need  only  be  alone  so  long  as  she  desired. 


132  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

As  a  widow,  she  was  enjoying  the  attentions  which 
the  insane  folly  of  her  early  marriage  had  deprived  her 
of  as  a  girl. 

She  had  never  imagined  what  the  love  of  a  strong, 
ardent  man  could  be  till  she  met  Kohala  on  the  steamer 
that  took  her  to  Honolulu.  His  intellect  and  the  grace 
and  beauty  of  his  person  attracted  her,  for,  though  by 
no  means  well-educated  herself,  she  had  an  intense  ad 
miration  for  men  of  culture  and  force ;  and  in  the  con 
templation  of  this  Vuperb  young  Hawaiian,  with  his 
manliness,  his  ardor  and  his  frankness,  she  forgot  all 
about  the  difference  in  race,  as  did  all  who  came  into 
contact  with  him. 

Realizing  her  own  dependence  on  the  annuity  that 
barely  enabled  her  to  live,  and  which  would  have  been 
inadequate  if  she  had  not  been  so  skillful  with  her 
needle  as  to  obviate  the  necessity  for  a  seamstress,  it 
was  prudent  if  not  natural  for  her  to  treat  the  advances 
of  Captain  Featherstone  with  consideration,  though, 
from  first  to  last,  she  never  regarded  him  with  the  feel 
ing  which  she  wanted  to  give  to  the  man  who  took  her 
first  husband's  place. 

Kohala,  from  the  beginning,  she  considered  entirely 
out  of  her  reach,  and  if  she  schemed  to  aid  Featherstone 
it  was  with  no  intent  to  win  at  the  expense  of  the  young 
Hawaiian.  All  this  ran  through  her  mind,  till  she 
found  herself  rapping  at  the  door  of  the  house  in  which 
the  Queen  had  found  refuge. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

CONTINUING   THE  SEARCH. 

COLONEL  ELLIS,  in  his  anxiety  for  Kohala,  forgot,  for 
the  time,  the  revolution  which  he  and  his  associates  had 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  133 

set  in  motion,  a  revolution  which  was  destined  to  make 
an  important,  if  not  the  most  important,  epoch  in  Ha 
waiian  history 

He  had  no  sleep ;  but  his  was  not  an  exceptional  case, 
for  there  were  very  few,  but  drunken  men  and  children, 
who  went  to  bed  in  Honolulu  that  night. 

Soon  after  daylight  his  daughter  Alice,  who,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  betrothed  to  Colonel  Loring,  and 
who  acted  as  one  of  the  Queen's  maids  of  honor  on  the 
occasion  of  the  last  ball  given  at  the  palace,  came  to  see 
him,  with  her  mother. 

Alice  Ellis  was  an  exceedingly  pretty  and  attractive 
girl,  with  the  self-confidence  and  entire  lack  of  self- 
consciousness  that  are  the  distinguishing  traits  in  the 
character  of  the  typical  American  girl.  Ever  since  her 
earliest  childhood  Alice  had  known  Kohala.  He  had 
been  her  playmate,  and,  with  a  childlike  indifference  to 
race,  she  grew  to  regard  him  as  a  brother  then,  and  the 
years  had  strengthened  rather  than  weakened  this  de 
lightful  sisterly  affection. 

Anxiety  for  the  safety  of  her  father  and  her  lover,  of 
which  Colonel  Loring,  with  great  thoughtfulness,  kept 
her  apprised  from  time  to  time,  kept  her  and  her  mother 
awake  all  night ;  for,  though  by  no  means  timid  women, 
they  could  not  remain  indifferent  to  the  danger  when  the 
coolest  and  wisest  men  in  the  city  feared  that  their  pur 
pose  could  hardly  be  achieved  without  bloodshed. 

The  delight  of  Alice  Ellis  and  her  mother  at  hearing  of 
the  great  success  of  the  revolution  was  quickly  changed 
to  pale-faced  grief  when  the  colonel  explained  his  own 
haggard  looks  by  telling  them  of  the  inexplicable  ab 
sence  of  Kohala. 

Mrs,  Ellis  was  "certain  that  that  designing  woman," 


134  KOHALA   OP    HAWAII. 

meaning  Mrs.  Holmes,  "was  at  the  bottom  of  it."  But 
her  husband,  who  had  been  of  the  same  opinion,  told 
her  that  Mrs.  Holmes,  evidently  a  sick  woman,  was  at 
that  very  moment  asleep,  or  at  least  in  bed,  in  her  own 
room,  and  that  her  cottage  was  being  watched  by  the  de 
tectives. 

Alice  Ellis  was  nothing  if  not  just.  She  had  had  her 
own  doubts  as  to 'Mrs.  Holmes,  but  she  was  too  noble- 
minded  to  breathe  these  doubts  to  another,  and  too  gen 
erous  to  restrain  an  innate  impulse  to  defend  those  who 
aped  the  evil-minded  by  baseless  denunciation. 

"I  have  not  seen  a  great  deal  of  Mrs.  Holmes,"  she 
said,  "but  what  I  have  seen  I  have  liked.  Poor  little 
thing!  she  may  possibly  be  what  we  very  good  and 
proper  people  call  imprudent,  but  she  is  all  alone,  with 
a  thousand  to  criticise  and  slander  and  not  one,  that  I 
know  of.  to  whisper  to  her  a  friendly  word  of  caution. 
I  have  noticed,  and  it  has  pained  me  to  see  it,  that  wo 
men  who  pose  as  models  of  all  the  proprieties  watch 
the  little  widow,  not  that  they  may  discover  what  is 
good  in  her.  but  that  they  may  find  something  to  distort 
into  a  scandal." 

"I  am  glad  she  has  one  champion  in  Honolulu,"  said 
the  colonel,  not  at  all  displeased  at  the  position  his 
daughter  had  taken. 

"I  quite  agree  with  Alice,"  said  Mrs.  Ellis,  who,  at 
heart,  was  one  of  the  best  of  women;  "but  she  must 
confess  that  Mrs.  Holmes  has  been,  to  put  it  mildly, 
most  imprudent  in  her  flirtations  with  poor  Kohala, 
who,  in  matters  of  the  heart  is  as  innocent  as  a  child." 

"My  precious  dearest!"  said  Alice,  and  she  threw  her 
right  arm  about  her  mother's  neck  and  kissed  her,  "in 
matters  of  the  heart,  as  you  call  love,  we  need  no  long 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  135 

\ 

experience.  Isn't  Cupid  pictured  as  a1  blind  boy?  He 
would  be  a  disgusting  little  cad  if  he  went  about  with 
his  eyes  open  and  wearing  a  dress  suit.  But  pray,  if 
Mrs.  Holmes  loves  Kohala  and  Kohala  loves  her — as 
he  certainly  does — I  can't  for  the  life  of  me  see  what 
moral  code  either  or  both  of  them  is  violating  in  that. 
Love  is  natural,  and  must  be  expressed.  As  to  this 
baby-betrothing  of  Leila  and  Kohala,  it  is  something 
peculiar  to  Congo  savages  and  European  princes,  and  I 
am  astonished  that  my  good,  kind,  noble,  darlingest 
papa  should  lend  himself  to  the  perpetuation  of  such  a 
disagreeable  Kanaka  custom.  I  wonder  how  he  would 
like  it  if  some  one  had  come  along  about  the  time  he 
was  geting  up  courage  to  propose  to  you,  mamma,  and 
told  him  that  he  mustn't  do  anything  so  wicked,  for  he 
was  betrothed  to  another  girl  while  he  was  yet  in  short 
skirts?" 

"But  Leila  loves  him,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Ellis. 

"Well,  that  shows  more  taste  than  spirit  in  Leila. 
Why — and  I  say  this  knowing  that  she  is  a  fine  girl  of 
whom  I  am  very  fond — ever  since  Kohala  has  come  back 
she  has  figuratively  and  literally  thrown  herself  at  his 
head.  That's  enough  to  frighten  off  any  man,  and  much 
more  one  who  is  inclined  to  lean  the  other  way.  She 
should  have  concealed  her  love  till  she  was  sure  of  him — " 

"As  you  did  with  Arthur  Loring?"  said  the  colonel. 

"Exactly :  that  is  an  excellent  illustration.  Why,  I 
kept  that  man  on  thorns  for  three  months,  and  all  the 
time  I  loved  him  quite  as  warmly  and  sincerely  as  Leila 
of  Hawaii  can  ever  love  Kohala.  If  this  is  to  be  a  free 
country  let  people  marry  for  love  and  not  for  reasons 
of  State,  say  I." 

"And  so  say  we  all  of  us,"  said  Colonel  Loring,  who 


136  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

had  come  into  the  room  unnoticed  while  Alice  was  giv 
ing  such  free  and  eloquent  expression  to  her  views  on 
matrimony. 

Colonel  Loring,  in  response  to  a  torrent  of  inquiries, 
said  that  he  had  learned  nothing  more  about  Kohala. 
Blake  was  now  out.  and  the  town  was  being  thoroughly 
searched,  and  all  the  roads  leading  from  it  were  guarded. 

He  advised  Colonel  Ellis  to  go  home  to  breakfast  with 
liis  wife  and  daughter,  saying  that  he  would  remain 
back  at  headquarters  to  attend  to  anything  that  might 
turn  up. 

This  suggestion  was  acted  upon  at  once,  and,  weary 
in  body  and  tortured  in  mind,  Colonel  Loring  threw  him 
self  on  a  sofa.  Though  his  reason  told  him  he  was  in 
no  way  to  blame,  he  still  felt,  as  Kohala  had  been  in  his 
charge,  that  he  was  responsible  for  his  safety. 

"I  think,  colonel,  that  if  you  could  manage  to  swallow 
a  glass  of  good  whisky  that  it'd  aize  yer  mind  and  give 
you  an  appetite  for  the  breakfast,"  said  Phipps,  the  glit 
ter  in  his  eyes  and  a  certain  hesitancy  in  his  speech  tell 
ing  that  he  had  himself  been  testing  the  merits  of  his 
own  prescription  that  morning. 

"No.  Phipps.  I  want  no  whisky  to  provoke  my  appe 
tite,  nor  do  you,  either.  And,  let  me  say,  my  good  fel 
low,  that  the  first  man  I  find  under  the  influence  of  liquor 
in  my  command  I'll  make  an  example  of." 

''And,  sure,  it's  dead  right  ye'll  be,  colonel.  I  am  an 
owld  sojer  mesel',  and  jooty's  jooty,  and  I'd  be  for 
hang  In'  the  man  that  got  drunk  in  the  face  of  the  inimy  ; 
but  in  a  time  of  pace,  such  as  the  prisint  seems  to  be. 
it's  a  intirely  different  thing."  And  Phipps  saluted 
in  good  military  fashion  and  went  down  to  order  the 
colonel's  breakfast. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  137 

Colonel  Loring  had  just  about  concluded  the  morning 
meal  when  Blake,  looking  as  fresh  as  if  he  had  not  been 
up  and  at  work  all  night,  came  in. 

"Well,  Blake,  what  news?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"We've  found  Hoi,"  replied  Blake. 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  Blake,  go  right  on  and  tell  me 
all  about  it.  I  am  too  nervous  to  ask  questions,"  and 
the  colonel  handed  Blake  a  cigar,  lit  one  himself,  and 
again  stretched  out,  full-length,  on  the  sofa. 

"I  know  Hoi,"  said  Blake,  as  he  bit  off  the  end  of  his 
cigar  and  struck  a  match.  "He's  a  lazy,  drunken  loafer, 
without  the  courage  of  a  mouse  or  the  conscience  of  a 
hog.  We  found  him  drunk  down  in  the  Chinese  Quar 
ter,  as  I  expected,  and  he  had  his  famous  dagger  still  in 
his  belt.  It  is  as  bright  as  it  was  the  day  he  bought 
it.  Of  course,  he  might  have  done  work  with  it  and 
cleaned  it  after ;  but  I  am  sure  he  wasn't  sober  enough 
last  night  to  do  that,  or  anything  else." 

"What  did  you  do  with  the  fellow?" 

"Sent  him  to  the  lockup  to  get  sober,  which  won't  be 
till  this  afternoon,  and  then  I'll  frighten  him  out  of  the 
little  wits  he  has  left ;  but,  as  I  said  before,  I  am  sure 
he's  not  in  this  job,"  said  Blake,  and  he  struck  another 
match  and  pulled  till  the  cigar  was  smoking  to  his  satis 
faction  ;  then  he  changed  his  position  and  his  manne^, 
and  asked : 

"Colonel,  what  do  you  know  about  the  man  who  calls 
himself  'Captain  Featherstone,  late  of  the  English 
Army'?  " 

"Only  that  he  became  acquainted  with  Kohala  in  Eu 
rope  some  time  ago,  and  since  then,  it  seems,  he  has 
stuck  as  close  to  him  as  if  he  were  his  shadow." 

"Was  he  in  Kohala's  employ,  think  you?" 


138  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"No,  Blake,  I  am  very  sure  he  was  not.  I  think,  hoiT- 
ever.  from  the  fact  that  he  hangs  round  the  English  Con 
sulate  a  great  deal,  that  it  is  possible  he  is  in  some  way 
in  the  employ  of  that  Government." 

"Yes,  I  have  thought  as  much  myself,"  said  Blake. 
"But  why  do  you  ask  about  Featherstone — surely  you 
J.o  not  associate  him  in  your  mind  with  the  abduction 
of  Kohala,  if,  indeed,  he  has  been  abducted?"  and  the 
colonel  sat  up  and  flipped  the  ashes  from  his  cigar. 

"Colonel  Loring,"  said  Blake,  speaking  very  slowly 
and  with  his  face  turned  to  the  ceiling,  the  better  to 
blow  out  smoke-rings.  "I  don't  know  much  about  di 
plomacy,  I'll  confess;  but,  like  all  men,  I  have  my  own 
opinions,  even  about  things  that  are  a  bit  hazy  in  my 
mind.  But  you  are  a  graduate  of  West  Point  and  know 
everything — ' ' 

"You  are  far  off  there,  Blake;  but  go  on,"  said  the 
colonel. 

"Now,  don't  you  think  if  the  English  Government 
had  the  slightest  ghost  of  an  excuse  for  seizing  on  to 
these  here  islands  that  they'd  do  it  at  once  and  take  the 
consequences  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  Blake,  that  has  been  England's  habit,  and  as  a 
consequence  she  has  gathered  to  herself  more  real  estate 
than  is  profitable  or  that  she  can  well  take  care  of, ' '  said 
the  colonel. 

"Yes;  but  she  ain't  got  anything  finer  than  these  is 
lands,  for  God's  sun  in  the  twenty-four  hours  don't  shine 
on  a  fairer  or  a  richer  land  than  this,  except  it  might  be 
on  the  green  hills  way  down  in  the  heart  of  Kentucky, 
where,  to  my  mind,  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  originally 
built,  or  if  it  wasn't,  it  must  have  been  an  oversight. 
Now,  if  England  wanted  to  get  these  islands  in  what 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  139 

might  look  like  a  fair  deal  how  do  you  think  she'd  go 
to  work  about  it?" 

"Upon  my  word,  Blake,  I  can't  imagine,  unless  she 
seized  them  by  force,  and  that  would  mean  a  row  with 
Uncle  Sam." 

"No,  she  doesn't  want  a  row;  but  how  would  this 
work :  Kohala,  he's  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne — 
that  we  all  know — but  he  doesn't  want  it;  if  he  did, 
nine-tenths  of  the  natives  would  side  with  him.  But 
suppose  he  was  made  a  prisoner  like,  and  he  was  told : 
'You  must  declare  yourself  King  of  Hawaii  at  once,  or 
die,'  the  chances  are  he'd  proclaim  himself — I  know  I 
would.  Well,  the  natives  stand  by  him  and  England 
shouting  'Fair  play,  and  give  the  boy  a  chance!'  comes 
to  his  help.  Why,  then  the  game  would  be  in  England's 
hands,  and  the  King  would  soon  find  himself  a  puppet." 

"That's  a  bold  theory,  Blake,  and  it  shows  you  are 
more  of  a  diplomat  than  I  am,"  said  the  colonel. 

"There  may  be  nothing  in  all  this,  mark  you;  but  I've 
made  up  my  mind  to  watch  Featherstone.  He's  playing 
for  big  stakes,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  he  has  a  job  con 
tract  and  is  not  regularly  employed  by  the  English  Gov 
ernment.  They  couldn't  afford  to  do  that,  but  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  their  handsomely  rewarding  the  man 
who  turns  over  to  them  the  King  and  Kingdom  of  Ha 
waii.  That's  what  I've  been  ciphering  out.  That's  why 
I  think  Featherstone  has  been  sticking  to  Kohala  closer 
than  a  brother.  And  that's  why  I'm  willing  to  bet,  even, 
that  when  we  come  to  make  the  last  analysis  of  the  situa 
tion — as  the  assayershave  it — we'll  find  that  this  Feather- 
stone  is  responsible  for  the  absence  of  our  friend,"  and 
Blake  lit  his  cigar  again,  while  the  colonel  surveyed  him 
with  undisguised  admiration. 


140  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A   STORMY   SCENE. 

CAPTAIN  FEATHERSTONE  was  quite  as  •  unpopular 
among  the  men  of  Honolulu  as  Marguerite  Holmes  was 
with  the  women.  To  be  sure,  he  had  been  invited  to 
dinner  on  board  one  of  the  English  ships,  and  he  had 
his  mail  addressed  to  the  care  of  the  English  Consul, 
things  that  gave  him  a  shadowy  social  standing,  as  did 
the  fact  that  he  and  Kohala  were,  seemingly,  intimate 
friends.  Yet  there  was  a  something  about  Featherstone 
that  provoked  dislike  and  distrust,  though  his  bitterest 
hater,  if  called  on  for  a  reason  for  his  dislike,  could 
have  been  forced  to  confess  that  he  had  no  tangible 
reason,  and  he  might  quote  the  old  rhyme : 

"  I  do  not  like  you,  Doctor  Fell, 
But  why  it  is  I  cannot  tell ; 
Yet  there  is  this  I  know  full  well — 
I  do  not  like  you,  Doctor  Fell." 

Captain  Featherstone's  attentions  to  the  little  widow 
did  not  escape  the  alert  vigilance  of  the  gossips  of  Hono 
lulu — gossips  who  are  the  curse  of  every  isolated  com 
munity  between  the  Poles  and  the  Equator.  Some  actually 
believed  that  the  two  were  actually  married,  and  that 
the  fact  was  kept  from  the  public  the  better  to  enable 
them  to  carry  out  their  schemes  for  despoiling  it. 

Featherstone,  while  defying  the  purpose  of  the  Ameri 
cans  to  force  the  Queen  from  the  throne,  was  far  too 
shrewd  to  openly  take  sides  with  Her  Majesty  or  per 
sonally  to  oppose  the  forces  organized  by  Colonel  Loring. 

Marguerite  Holmes  was  not  a  strong  woman  nor  even 
a  self-reliant  one ;  had  she  been  either,  she  would  never 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  141 

have  permited  herself  to  be  brought  so  entirely  under 
the  influence  of  a  man  whom,  at  heart,  she  thoroughly 
disliked,  and,  as  a  consequence,  dreaded. 

The  fact  that  she  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  and 
that  Featherstone  was  her  countryman — and  in  a  strange 
land  a  countryman  seems  like  a  kinsman — might  be 
urged  as  an  excuse  for  her  treatment  of  this  man.  She 
was  far  too  intelligent  not  to  see  through  his  purpose, 
and  far  too  cunning  to  lend  herself  entirely  to  his 
schemes,  though  she  had  the  tact  to  keep  these  thoughts 
to  herself. 

Marguerite  Holmes  did  not  know  anything  about  the 
fate  of  Kohala,  and  this  added  to  her  torture ;  but  from 
the  instant  of  the  first  information  she  had,  without 
Blake's  shrewd  method  of  reasoning,  reached  exactly 
the  same  conclusion. 

She  called  upon  the  Queen,  and  found  Her  Deposed 
Majesty  even  more  defiant  and  arbitrary  than  had  been 
her  habit. 

Without  any  salutation,  and  scarcely  deigning  to  look 
at  her  little  visitor,  the  Queen  ordered  the  others  present 
to  leave  the  room,  and  the  door  had  hardly  closed  behind 
them  when  she  asked,  with  maddening  rudeness : 

"Woman  !  what  have  you  done  with  this  man?" 

"Pardon  me,  but  I  fail  to  understand  Your  Majesty," 
said  Marguerite,  and  she  looked  down  on  the  Queen,  who 
remained  seated,  with  a  look  of  undisguised  contempt 
in  the  long-lashed  eyes. 

"Where  is  Kohala?"  demanded  the  Queen. 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  Marguerite,  with  forced  calm 
ness. 

"You  don't?" 

"I  do  not." 


14?  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"And  you  wish  me  to  believe  that?" 
"I  wish  Your  Majesty  to  believe  nothing    You  have 
seen  fit  to  speak  to  me  in  an  insulting  way  and  I  choose 
to  answer  as  becomes  a  lady." 

"You  grow  defiant  because  you  think  I  am  no  longer 
t?;.s  Queen  of  Hawaii :  is  that  it?" 

"That  is  not  it.  Your  being  a  Queen  did  not  elevate 
your  character,  nor  can  the  loss  of  your  throne  degrade 
if.  I  speak  to  you  now  as  woman  to  woman,  and  I  re 
peat  that  I  do  not  know  what  has  become  of  this  man." 
"And  yet  the  last  time  he  was  seen  was  when  he  called 
at  your  cottage. ' ' 

"So  I  have  been  told." 
"And  you  did  not  see  him?" 
"I  did  not." 
"May  I  ask  why?" 

"Because  at  the  very  time  he  called  I,  though  it  was 
not  an  hour  for  an  unprotected  woman  to  be  on  the 
streets,  yielding  to  the  urgent  summons  of  Your  Maj 
esty,  came  here,"  said  Marguerite,  with  a  dignity  that 
was  in  striking  contrast  with  the  Queen's  bruskness. 
"I  suppose  I  must  believe  you,"  snapped  the  Queen. 
"Your  belief  in  this  and  in  all  other  matters  is  one  of 
the  prerogatives  of  which  the  revolution  has  not  deprived 
Your  Majesty.  I  should  prefer  that  you  beliaved  the 
truth,  for  your  own  sake,  rather  than  the  error  for  mv 
own." 

"Mrs.  Holmes,"  said  the  Queen,  with  a  calmer  manner, 
that  rather  intensified  the  tigerish  gleam  in  her  half- 
closed  ejres,  "you  110  doubt  imagine  that  the  ceremony 
performed  at  the  palace  on  the  eve  of  Kohala's  depart 
ure  for  Hawaii  was  a  sham?" 

"Your  Majesty  led  me  to  infer  that  it  was  a  sham,  arid 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  143 

that  my  concurrence  was  necessary  as  a  matter  of  diplo 
macy  ;  but  I  do  not  think  I  was  deceived,  and,  let  me  add, 
I  am  responsible  for  my  own  part  in  that  transaction  and 
am  quite  ready  to  face  the  consequences.  And  now,  if 
Your  Majesty  has  no  further  degradation  to  offer  me,  I 
shall  ask  permission  to  retire,"  and,  before  the  Queen, 
who  was  choking  with  anger,  could  make  a  reply,  Mar 
guerite  Holmes  was  at  the  other  side  of  the  door  and  out 
of  the  house. 

The  little  woman  withdrew  from  this  strange  interview 
feeling  that  she  had  not  had  the  worst  of  it;  and,  al 
though  she  had  been  inclined  to  side  with  the  Queen's 
party,  her  heart  now  throbbed  with  genuine  satisfaction 
as,  on  the  way  back,  she  saw  the  United  States  flag 
floating  from  the  roof  of  the  palace. 

On  reaching  home  she  went  at  once  to  her  own  room, 
and  was  in  the  act  of  exchanging  her  street  dress  for 
the  warm-colored  wrapper  that  so  well  became  her 
slender  figure  when  Clem  rapped  at  the  door,  and, 
with  a  forced  little  cough,  such  as  she  always  prefaced 
an  announcement  with,  she  said : 

"Please,  mem,  the  captain  is  here." 

"Captain  Featherstone?"  Marguerite  mentioned  the 
name,  although  there  was  no  other  captain  among  her 
acquaintances  in  Honolulu.  "Show  him  into  the  sit 
ting-room,  Clem,  and  say  that  I  shall  join  him  pres 
ently." 

"The  sitting-room,  mem?"  said  Clem,  in  surprise,  for 
heretofore  the  captain  had  been  received  in  the  little 
gem  of  a  boudoir,  which  Marguerite  had  Ldaintily  deco 
rated  with  her  own  hands,  and  where  she  sewed  and  en 
tertained  her  few  lady  callers. 

"I  said  the  sitting-room,"  repeated  Marguerite,  with 


144  KOHALA    OF    HAWAII. 

an  emphasis  that  surprised  Clem,  who  had  come  to  be 
lieve  that  her  mistress  was  as  wanting  in  force  as  a 
child,  and  for  which  reason  she  held  her  in  contempt, 
for  the  woman  was  of  that  servile  class  that  impose  on 
weakness  and  cringe  before  strength. 

Captain  Featherstone  had  been  up  all  night,  and  he 
looked  as  if  he  had  not  been  in  bed  for  a  week. 

He  was  pacing  the  floor  and  stroking  his  mustache  in 
a  nervous  way  when  Marguerite  entered.  His  back  was 
toward  her  when  he  heard  her  light  steps,  and,  turning 
with  extended  arms,  as  if  he  were  going  to  kiss  her,  he 
said : 

"Flossy.  I  am  glad  to  have  found  you  in  at  last." 

She  drew  back  from  his  advance,  motioned  him  to  a 
chair,  and,  taking  one  herself,  said : 

'*!  have  been  here  continuously,  except  when  obeying 
the  commands  of  Her  Ma  jest}'  to  call  on  her,  which  I 
have  done  for  the  last  time. ' ' 

Featherstone,  with  an  expression  half  angry  and  the 
other  half  perplexed,  eyed  the  little  woman  over,  and 
then  asked : 

"What  is  up  with  you?" 

"Everything,"  she  replied. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Flossy?  Surely  you  are  not  pro 
voked  at  me?"  ha  said,  with  forced  calmness  and  some 
thing  of  the  old  gallantry  in  his  voice  and  expression. 

"No."  she  replied,  "I  am  provoked  at  myself." 

"But  what  for?" 

"For  being  a  fool  and  a  tool,  when  all  my  instincts 
plead  that  I  should  do  right  and  be  true  to  myself.  But 
the  mischief  is  done ;  the  milk  is  spilled,  and  crying  will 
not  restore  it." 

"Oli.   come,  come,  you   are  nervous,  and  no   wonder 


KOHAT.A   OF    HAWAII.  145 

after  the  excitement  of  last  night.  The  Yankees  have 
started  a  blaze  that  won't  go  down  if  they  want  it  to. 
They  imagine  that  they  have  everything  their  own  way, 
but  they  will  see  they  are  counting  without  their  host." 

Featherstone  waited,  and  Marguerite,  seeing  that  some 
comment  was  expected,  said  : 

"I  do  not  understand  it ;  I  might  if  I  were  a  man." 

"But  you  fully  understood  the  plans,  as  I  laid  them 
down  to  you  from  time  to  time.  I  am  quite  sure  of 
that,  and  let  me  say  my  plans  have  not  changed,"  said 
Featherstone,  confidently. 

"Not  changed!"  she  echoed. 

"Not  in  the  slightest." 

"Then  the  revolution,  as  they  call  it,  has  not  effected 
thorn?" 

"On  the  contrary,  it  has  helped  me." 

"You  surprise  me." 

"Yet  it  is  true;  and  now  all  I  want  is  that  you  shall 
give  me  your  influence  for  a  few  days  and  we  shall  liavo 
everything  just  as  we  want  it." 

"I  may  be  stupid,  but  I  must  confess  I  do  not  under 
stand." 

"Then  I  shall  make  myself  clearer." 

"If  you  can." 

"You  remember  our  plan — 

"Your  plan,  captain,"  she  interrupted. 

"Well,  my  plan,  if  you  will  have  it  so,  to  get  Kohala 
to  have  himself  proclaimed  king,  which  he  can  be  made 
to  do  only  through  the  unbounded  influence  you  have  over 
him.  The  time  for  this  has  come,  and  nine-tenths  of  the 
natives  and  a  majority  of  the  whites  are  ready  to  sustain 
him,  if  he  says  the  word.  And  now — " 

"And  now,"  interrupted  Marguerite  again,  grief  and 


146  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

indignation  mingling  and  glowing  in  her  eyes,  "there 
is  one  thing — and  that  the  most  essential — wanting  to 
perfect  your  plans." 

"What  is  that?"  he  coughed. 

"Kohala!" 

"Kohala?" 

"Yes." 

"I  will  not  pretend  to' say  that  I  do  not  know  the 
young  man  is  missing ;  but  if  I  wanted  to  find  him — 
and  I  shall  want  to  find  him  if  you  are' still  ready  to 
co-operate  with  me — I  do  not  think  there  will  be  much 
trouble  in  doing  so." 

"Then  Kohala  is  living!"  she  cried,  and  she  clasped 
her  hands  'and  half  raised  them,  as  in  the  act  of  prayer. 

"I  feel  very  certain  that  he  is ;  sure  of  it,  indeed." 

"And  he  is  remaining  away  of  his  own  volition?" 

"Well,  hardly  that.  His  friends — and,  mark  you,  I 
am  telling  you  this  in  the  strictest  confidence — are  keep 
ing  him  away  from  the  Americans,  and  will  continue  to 
keep  him  till  he  is  ready  to  act;  and  he  will  be  ready 
to  act  as  soon  as  you  tell  him  what  to  do. ' ' 

Marguerite  Holmes  interlocked  her  fingers  while 
Featherstone  was  speaking,  and  the  little  mouth  worked 
as  if  in  effort  to  keep  back  the  words  that  demanded  ut 
terance.  At  length,  unable  longer  to  control  herself,  she 
sprang  to  her  feet  and  cried  out : 

"Take  me — take  me  to  Kohala  at  once !" 

"Why,  you  are  surprisingly  eager,"  said  Featherstone, 
and  the  veins  along  his  thick  neck  began  to  swell.  "What 
is  the  reason  for  this  unusual  interest  in  the  young  man?" 

"It  is  the  best  reason  for  interest  that  any  woman  can 
have,"  she  said,  and,  with  a  glow  of  pride  on  her  face, 
she  looked  straight  into  his  blood-shot  eyes. 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  IK 

"May  I  ask  what  that  reason  is?" 

"You  may." 

"Then  I  do  ask  it." 

'  The  reason  is  that  I  love  him  as  I  never  loved  man 
before !  Love  him  as  a  woman  should  love  the  man  to 
whom  she  is  lawfully  wed!" 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A   VERY   IMPORTANT   QUESTION. 

THE  simile,  'like  lightning  out  of  a  cloudless  sky,"  is 
trite  but  very  effective,  considering  its  basis  in  fact ;  but 
that  and  all  other  stock  illustrations  intended  to  picture 
intense  surprise  and  indignant  amazement  would  be  en 
tirely  ineffectual  to  give  an  idea  of  Featherstone's  as 
tonishment  when  Marguerite  Holmes,  looking  straight 
into  his  eyes,  told  him  that  she  loved  Kohala,  and  that 
she  was  his  wife. 

Captain  Featherstone  was  the  embodiment  of  selfish 
ness.  It  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  performed  a  generous 
act  from  a  noble  motive.  He  would  have  been  as  ready, 
for  a  price,  to  sell  his  country  as  he  was  to  aid  her ;  and 
he  would  have  promised  marriage  to  the  most  wrinkled 
and  toothless  hag  in  Hawaii  if,  by  so  doing,  he  cou'cL 
further  his  own  debased  ends. 

For  two  years  he  had  been  a  follower,  a  hanger-on  of 
Kohala,  his  purpose  being  to  see  him  crowned  King  of 
Hawaii,  while  he  himself — by  what  means  we  cannot 
pretend  to  say  or  by  reason  of  what  understanding — 
would  secure  a  rich  reward  if  he  secured  an  English  pro 
tectorate  of  the  islands. 

As  far  as  he  was  capable  of  loving  any  one  Captain 


148  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Featherstone  loved  Marguerite  Holmes,  and,  as  his  wife, 
he  may  have  been  willing  to  share,  in  part,  with  her  the 
money  he  expected  to  get ;  yet,  like  the  mercenary  and 
unprincipled  wretch  that  he  was,  he  brought  Kohala 
under  the  fascinating  spell  of  the  woman  he  imagined 
he  loved  himself,  till  the  entanglement  became  inextri 
cable. 

That  Marguerite  Holmes  encouraged  him  in  the  belief 
that  his  attentions  were  agreeable  and  that  she  led  him 
to  believe  that  she  would  help  him  to  carry  out  his  de 
signs,  and  on  their  completion  become  his  wife,  cannot, 
perhaps,  be  truthfully  denied. 

But  in  extenuation  of  this  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  little  woman  was  alone  in  the  world,  her  sole 
dependence  a  petty  annuity,  the  continuance  of  whicq 
rested  with  an  eccentric  man,  whom  she  hardly  knew 
and  to  whom  she  was  allied  by  no  ties  of  consanguinity. 

While  her  conduct  cannot  be  defended  from  a  high 
ethical  standpoint,  before  we  condemn  we  should  recall 
that  she  was  like  the  proverbial  drowning  man,  who,  in 
his  desperate  struggle  for  self-preservation,  forgets  the 
rights  of  others  in  his  fear  of  death.  From  the  imposi 
tion  of  pretended  love,  which  Featherstone  implored  her 
to  practice  on  Kohala,  she  stood  exonerated  by  her  con 
duct. 

Before  Kohala  went  to  Hawaii  to  visit  the  chief  Keona, 
unknown  to  Featherstone  a  marriage  with  Marguerite 
Holmes  was  performed  at  the  palace.  The  Queen's  party, 
who  brought  this  about,  kept  the  matter  secret,  intend 
ing  to  spring  it  on  the  people  if  an  attempt  were  made 
to  place  Kohala  on  the  throne. 

The  Queen's  friends  knew  that  the  knowledge  of  such 
a  marriage  would  alienate  the  natives  and  provoke  the 


KOHALA   OP    HAWAII.  149 

relentless  opposition  of  Keona,  who,  as  has  been  seen, 
regarded  Koliala  as  the  betrothed  of  his  daughter  Leila, 
and  with  the  chief's  opposition  the  young  man's  chances 
as  a  ruler  were  a  thousand  times  less  than  those  of  the 
deposed  Queen. 

Feathers  tone's  purpose  was  to  get  Kohala  to  assert  his 
rights  to  the  throne,  for  which  he  did  not  care  and 
which  he  "would  not  have,  unless  it  were  to  please  the 
woman  for  whose  gratification  he  was  willing  to  sacri 
fice  even  life  itself. 

But  when  the  captain  saw  all  his  airy  castles  dissolv 
ing  before  his  gaze,  and  all  his  dreams  of  wealth  dissi 
pated  by  the  very  person  on  whose  co-operation  and 
fidelity  to  himself  so  much  —  everything,  indeed  —  de 
pended,  he  could  not,  for  the  time  being,  credit  the  evi 
dence  of  his  senses. 

Forgetting  the  forced  gallantry  that  had  hitherto  dis 
tinguished  his  intercourse  with  Marguerite  Holmes,  he 
shot  out  a  fierce  oath,  and  leaping  to  his  feet,  with  arm 
raised  as  if  he  were  going  to  strike  her,  he  shouted  out : 

' ' Love  !   Lawfully  wed  !   Woman,  what  do  you  mean ? ' ' 

She  looked  so  pale  and  delicate  and  slender  as  she  stood 
there  before  him  that  Clem— who  was  screwing  her  eye 
to  the  keyhole  outside— expected  to  see  her  mistress  fall 
down  in  a  faint,  or,  at  least,  to  hear  her  scream ;  but  in 
stead,  she  never  moved,  never  dropped  her  gaze  from 
his  red  and  brutally  enraged  face. 

In  a  voice  whose  low,  well-bred  tones  were  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  fierce  bellowing  of  the  man,  Margue 
rite  said  :  "I  mean  what  I  have  said." 

"That  you  love  Kohala?" 

"Ay,  every  hair  in  his  head  and  every  curve  of  his 
face." 


150  KOHALA    OF    HAWAII. 

"And  you  are  married  to  him?" 

"lam." 

"When  did  this  happen?" 

"Go  ask  Kohala.  He  does  not  lie,  nor  offer  an  insult 
to  women  who  lack  the  brute  strength  of  the  bully.  He 
\vill  tell  the  truth,  as  becomes  a  man  who  is  a  prince  and 
a  prince  who  is  a  man. ' ' 

Again  Feathers  tone  began  pacing  the  room  and  pulling 
at  his  red  mustache,  while  he  shot  glances  at  once  ques 
tioning  and  malignant  at  the  little  woman.  After  a  few 
minutes  he  came  to  a  sudden  halt  before  her  and  burst 
out: 

"Merciful  powers  !  you  cannot  mean  this.  You  planned 
this  fiction  to  tease  me,  to  try  me,  to  test  me  !  Tell  me 
that  you  did  not  mean  it.  Do  that  or  lay  me  dead  at 
your  feet,  for  you  might  as  well  kill  me  in  one  way  as 
in  another!" 

"Take  me  to  Kohala  at  once,  and  in  my  presence  let 
him  speak  for  himself.  If  he  says  I  have  not  told  the 
truth  I  will  confess  thait  I  have  lied.  If  he  says  he 
wants  to  be  King  of  Hawaii  I  will  sustain  him.  If  he 
says  that  henceforth  he  must  live  impoverished  and  in 
exile  I  will  share  his  lot,  and  deem  a  cabin  and  priva 
tion  heaven  so  that  he  be  there." 

Once  more  Featherstone  resumed  his  pacing  and  his 
pulling  and  biting  at  the  red  mustache.  Gradually  the 
terrible  truth  found  a  resting-place  in  his  fevered  brain 
and  forced  upon  him  a  realization  of  his  own  helpless 
and  dangerous  situation,  now  that  the  ally  on  whom  he 
had  counted  for  so  much  had  deserted  him. 

Fears  for  his  personal  safety  banished  from  his  mind 
the  fortune  which  he  had  imagined  within  his  reach 
and  the  wife  and  houses  that  he  was  to  count  among  his 
personal  assets  when  he  returned  to  England. 

But  he  was  quick  to  see  that  the  woman  who  had 
blasted  all  his  schemes  had  it  in  her  power  to  have  him 
arrested  by  the  Provisional  Army  and  subjected  to  the 
sanguinary  rage  of  men,  many  of  whom,  in  the  gold 
hills  beyond  the  sea,  had  given  work  to  a  coroner's  jury 
for  offenses  mild  compared  with  that  of  which  he  knew 
himself  to  be  guilty. 


KOHALA    OP    HAWAII.  151 

Had  he  obeyed  the  impulses  of  his  own  cowardly  and 
intensely  animal  nature  he  would  have  sought  to  coerce 
Marguerite  Holmes  into  silence  by  intimidation  and 
playing  on  her  fears ;  but  the  unexpected  role  in  which 
he  now  saw  himself,  and  which  was  not  the  least  ele 
ment  in  his  surprise,  convinced  him  that  it  would  be 
good  policy  to  win  her  to  his  present  purpose  by  means 
similar  to  those  employed  when  he  flattered  himself  that 
he  was  gaining  her  love. 

With  a  sigh,  which  there  was  no  need  to  affect,  Cap 
tain  Featherstone  seemed  to  shrink  into  himself,  for  his 
head  was  bowed  and  his  arms  hung  heavily  by  his  side 
as  he  again  halted  before  her  and  said : 

"You  have  ruined  all  my  prospects,  and  now,  if  you 
so  desire — and  I  shall  not  ask  you  not  to  do  so — it  is  in 
your  power  to  hand  me  over  to  the  lawless  mob  which 
is  at  present  in  possession  of  this  unfortunate  city,  and 
let  them  tear  me  to  pieces." 

''I  have  no  desire  to  do  you  an  injury,"  she  said,  and 
her  sensitive  sympathies— her  weakest  characteristic — 
brought  tears  to  the  long-lashed  gray  eyes,  till  even 
Featherstone  forgot  his  troubles  in  momentary  admira 
tion  of  her  girlish  beauty  "Whatever  I  can  do  to  save 
you  without  injustice  to  others  I  shall  be  glad  to  do." 

"Flossy — no,  I  can  never  call  you  by  that  dear  name 
again — Mrs. — Mrs.  Kohala,  do  you  mean  that?"  and 
Featherstone  half  lifted  his  hand  as  if  expecting  hers 
to  meet  it,  then  let  it  fall  again. 

"I  do." 

"Will  you  make  me  one  promise?" 

"What  is  it?" 

"Say  that  you  will  make  it;  it  will  bring  110  harm  to 
you.  and  it  will  help  me." 

"If  such  be  the  case  I  give  you  the  promise,"  she  said, 
with  characteristic  impulsiveness. 

"It  is  that  you  do  not  repeat  to  any  living  soul  what  I 
have  told  you  about  Kohala  till  I  remove  the  injunction 
of  secrecy  and  silence. " 

"I  will  agree  to  that,  on  one  condition." 

"Name  the  condition." 

"It  is  that  you  take  me  at  once  to  Kohala." 


152  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"At  once?" 

"Yes,  at  once." 

"But  that  would  be  ruin." 

"How  so?" 

"I  suppose  you  know  that  you  and  I  are  watched  and 
followed  by  the  spies  of  this  fellow,  Loring?" 

"I  do  not  care." 

"But  I  do.  Can  you  not  wait  till  after  one  o'clock  to 
morrow  night?  Then,  if  you  creep  quietly  out  and  keep  in 
the  shadows,  you  will  find  me  awaiting  you  directly  in 
front  of  the  Mormon  Church.  I  shall  have  a  native  guide 
along,  who  can  take  us  so  as  to  avoid  the  guards,  and 
within  an  hour  you  will  be  with  your  husband.  What  say 
you?" 

"I  say  yes;  but  if  he  were  not  a  prisoner  he  would 
come  to  me.  All  the  thrones  in  the  world  could  not  keep 
Kohala  from  me  if  he  were  free. ' ' 

"I  cannot  explain  all  to  you  now.  But  it  is  under 
stood  that,  till  you  see  me  again,  you  do  not  tell  a  soul 
what  has  passed  between  us ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  that 
you  will  meet  me  at  the  hour  named  in  front  of  the  Mor 
mon  Church,  which,  you  know,  is  only  a  short  distance 
away.  You  may  remember  you  were  curious  to  hear 
the  service,  and  I  took  you  there  one  night?" 

Marguerite  nodded,  and  after  fully  a  minute's  hesita 
tion,  as  if  he  were  debating  whether  to  say  anything 
further  or  not,  Featherstone  bowed  stiffly  and  left  the 
house. 

Kohala  owned  a  fine  house  in  Honolulu,  and  here  he 
and  Featherstone  lived  together  since  he  returned  from 
abroad;  there  were  good  servants  and  an  excellent 
stable  attached  to  the  establishment,  and  these  the  cap 
tain  continued  to  enjoy  during  the  absence  of  their 
owner. 

After  leaving  Mrs.  Holmes  he  went  directly  to  this 
house,  and  his  first  act  was  to  order  in  a  bottle  of  brandy 
and  some  soda.  He  filled  a  goblet  with  a  great  deal  of 
the  former  and  very  little  of  the  latter,  and  drained  it 
off  without  taking  it  from  his  lips.  Then  he  lit  a  cigar, 
poured  out  some  more  brandy  so  as  to  have  it  within 
reach,  dropped  into  a  dining-room  chair  and  shot  out 


KOHAL.A   OF    HAWAII.  153 

a  string  of  oaths,  intended,  110  doubt,  to  relieve  his  over 
wrought  feelings. 

As  the  reader  must  have  already  surmised,  with  the 
reasons  for  the  same,  it  was  Featherstone  who  caused 
Kohala  to  be  abducted  immediately  in  front  of  his  wife's 
cottage,  and  conveyed  in  a  closed  carriage  to  a  secluded 
house  far  up  the  long  valley  that  leads  to  the  Pali's 
bloody  cliffs,  some  eight  miles  from  Honolulu. 

Featherstone  did  not  appear  directly  in  this  enter 
prise  :  he  was  far  too  shrewd  for  that ;  and  tools  suitable 
for  his  purpose,  both  white  and  brown,  could  be  had  at 
the  lowest  market  rates  for  any  such  work  as  that. 

Featherstone 's  plan  was  really  very  adroit.  He  pro 
posed,  with  Marguerite  to  help  him,  to  play  the  part  of 
a  brave  liberator.  But  before  he  permitted — or,  rather, 
Marguerite  permitted — Kohala  to  return  to  Honolulu, 
Kohala,  for  her  saka,  would  be  induced  to  issue  his  pro- 
nunciamento.  declaring  himself  King  of  Hawaii. 

All  this  was  now  relegated  to  the  impossibilities,  and 
the  all-important  and  difficult  question  presented  to 
Featherstone 's  mind  was  how  to  save  himself  when 
the  inevitable  exposure  came. 

He  smoked  with  such  energy  that  he  sat  amid  a  cloud. 
He  was  a  man  fertile  in  resources,  and  no  tenderness  of 
conscience  ever  barred  him  from  a  scheme  that  prom 
ised  success  by  illegal  methods. 

The  woman  had  deceived  him,  and  he  cursed  her  for 
it.  It  would  have  gladdened  his  savage  heart  to  see  her 
dead  at  his  feet. 

He  reasoned  that  she  would  keep  her  promise  of  si- 
leiice,  and  that  she  would  meet  him,  as  agreed.  What 
if  she  and  Kohala  were  never  seen  again?  People  would 
say  they  had  eloped  in  some  strange  way.  What  if  their 
dead  bodies  were  found  together,  with  an  empty  pistol 
clutched  in  Kohala's  hand?  People  would  say  it  was 
the  romantic  and  insane  end  of  two  foolish  lovers. 


154  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

BLAKE  GETS  ON  THE  TRAIL. 

FOR  prudential  reasons,  Colonel  Ellis  and  others  who 
had  a  tender  interest  in  the  fate  of  Kohaia,  kept  from 
the  knowledge  of  the  public  the  fact  that  he  was  miss 
ing  ;  and  the  two  daily  papers,  though  fully  appreciat 
ing  the  importance,  as  a  matter  of  news,  of  the  death, 
abduction  or  desertion  of  the  young  man,  made  no  al 
lusion  to  him  in  their  columns. 

The  men  whom  Blake  assigned  to  search  the  different 
sections  of  the  city  he  had  mapped  out  reported  to  him, 
one  by  one,  each  being  forced  to  confess  that  his  mission 
had  been  a  failure,  for  the  missing  man  had  left  no  more 
sign  than  if  the  earth  had  opened  in  the  darkness  and 
swallowed  him  up,  leaving  no  scar  as  a  reminder  on  its 
surface. 

This  goes  to  prove  how  careful  and  complete  had  been 
Featherstone's  plans.  Indeed,  Blake's  suspicions  as  to 
this  man's  connection  with  the  matter  were  the  result 
of  intuition  rather  than  of  reason. 

After  he  had  lost  all  hope  of  finding  Kohaia  by  means 
of  the  search  he  had  instituted  Blake  sought  out  Colonel 
Ellis  and  said : 

"I  am  going  to  let  all  the  men  go  back  to  their  com 
mands  and  take  up  this  matter  by  myself." 

"But  what  are  you  going  to  do?"  asked  Colonel  Ellis, 
whose  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  Kohaia  had  preyed  on 
him  more  than  all  the  cares  of  the  revolution  and  the 
burdens  that  followed  it. 

"I  want  Colonel  Loring" — Loring  was  present — "to 
give  me  a  leave  of  absence  for  as  long  as  I  may  want 
it." 

"I  shall  write  it  out  now,"  said  Colonel  Loring,  and  he 
pulled  up  to  the  table  and  dashed  off  the  following : 

'HEADQUARTERS  PROVISIONAL  ARMY  OF  HAWAII: 

To  whom  it  may  concern — The  bearer,  First  Lieutenant 

Harry  Blake,  is  detailed  for  special  service  by  me,  and 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  155 

all  officers  and  enlisted  men  connected  with  this  com 
mand  are  hereby  instructed  to  assist  Lieutenant  Blake 
in  such  manner  as  he  may  require  or  request. 

"ARTHUR  LORING,  Colonel  Commanding." 

"I  don't  think  I  shall  call  upon  my  comrades  for  much 
help,"  said  Blake,  as  he  folded  up  the  paper  and  put  it 
away  in  his  ample  breast-pocket.  "This  is  to  be  a  still 
hunt.  One  doesn't  go  gunning  for  wild  ducks  with  a 
brass  band,,  as  we  used  to  say  in  the  States." 

After  leaving  headquarters  Blake  went  to  a  public- 
house  down  near  the  pier  of  the  Union  Steamship  Com 
pany,  and  here,  in  a  back  room,  he  found  Phipps,  sober, 
or,  rather,  comparatively  so.  for  he  was  in  that  taciturn 
state  of  inebriety  when  he  might  be  said  to  be  at  his 
best. 

Phipps,  for  State  reasons  and  not  because  he  had  any 
fondness  for  the  woman,  had  been  very  attentive  to  Clem 
of  late,  and  it  was  through  him  and  in  consideration  of 
Colonel  Ellis 's  bribes,  that  she  was  induced  to  tell  all  she 
knew  about  her  mistress  and  to  adorn  her  facts  through 
her  imagination,  in  order  to  give  what  she  considered 
full  measure  for  value  received. 

"Phipps,"  said  Blake,  as  he  handed  the  Irishman  a  cigar 
and  lit  another  himself,  "I  want  you  to  help  me." 

"I'm  ready,"  said  Phipps. 

"You  know  Mrs.  Clem?" 

"Faith,  I  do." 

"And  you  cloii't  love  her?" 

"Love  her!" 

"Yes." 

"Do  I  look  like  a  natoral  born  fool?" 

"Far  from  it,  Phipps." 

"Then  don't  insult  a  man  of  my  taste." 

"But  you've  been  sweet  on  her." 

"Mebby  so;  but  be  the  same  token,  I'd  be  sweet  on 
Owld  Nick's  grandmother,  if  it  would  only  help  to  annex 
these  islands  to  the  great  United  States,"  said  Phipps, 
with  energy. 

"I  think  you  told  me  that  this  Mrs.  Clem  is  attached 
to  Featherstone?" 


156  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"And,  sure,  she  should  be;  doesn't  he  pay  her  for  it?" 

"How  much  does  he  pay  her?" 

"I  don't  know.     But  why  do  you  ask?" 

"Because  Featherstone  called  on  Mrs.  Holmes  to-day, 
and  if  it  was  possible,  you  may  depend  on  it  that  Mrs. 
Clem  overheard  their  conversation,  and  that  they  spoke 
about  the  man  we  want  to  find." 

"Ah,  be  gob,  I  see  !"  said  Phipps,  closing  one  eye. 

"I  was  sure  you  would.  Now,  it  is  near  dark,  and  you 
can  find  Mrs.  Clem  and  have  a  private  chat  with  her 
without  exciting  attention.  Go  to  her  as  soon  as  you 
can  and  learn  everything  you  can  about  this  meeting 
and  report  it  to  me  at  this  place  at  nine  o'clock.  If 
you  need  money  let  me  know,  and  you  can  have  all 
you  want." 

"I'll  keep  an  account  of  ixpeiises,  but  I  have  all  I  want 
for  the  present,"  said  Phipps,  and,  full  of  his  purpose, 
he  started  off,  for  it  was  now  dusk,  and  the  lamps  and 
electric  lights  were  burning  as  brightly  as  in  the  hap 
piest  days  of  Honolulu. 

Promptly  at  nine  o'clock  Phipps  returned  and  made 
his  way  to  the  little  back  room  where  he  last  saw  Blake. 
The  only  occupant  of  the  place  now  was  a  native  fisher 
man,  dressed  in  a  blouse  and  straw  hat  and  loose  cotton 
trousers,  and  with  the  long  black  hair  and  smooth  brown 
face  that  distinguish  his  class. 

"Faith,  I  thought  I'd  be  afther  seein'  Mr.  Blake  here," 
said  Phipps,  as,  with  a  disgusted  look  at  the  Kanaka,  he 
was  about  to  retreat. 

"Mr.  Blake  is  here." 

Phipps  started.  It  could  not  be  that  brown  man  with 
the  half -closed  eyes  who  had  so  perfectly  imitated  the 
voice  of  his  friend. 

"Did  you  spake  to  me?"  he  said,  addressing  himself 
to  the  native. 

"I  did."  And  then,  with  a  dumb  laugh,  Blake — for 
he  it  was — rose  and  gave  Phipps  his  hand. 

"Well,  begorra,  you  take  the  cake  !"  said  Phipps,  step 
ping  back  and  examining  the  disguise  with  intense  ad 
miration  and  many  strong  but  unquotable  expressions 
of  surprise.  "Sure,  your  own  mother  wouldn't  know 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  157 

you  if  she  was  to  clap  her  two  eyes  on  you  this  blessed 
minute." 

"If  any  one  else  should  come  in,  Phipps,  or  if  you 
should  chance  to  see  roe  on  the  street  in  this  disguise, 
you  must  not  know  me." 

"No,  not  from  a  side  of  sole  leather." 

"And  now  tell  me  what  you  have  done,"  said  Blake, 
sinking  his  voice  to  the  pitch  he  wanted  the  other  to 
imitate. 

"I  didn't  larn  much,  for  Mrs.  Clem  was  as  close  as  a 
clam.  Featherstone  owns  her,  body  and  soul..  She  said 
him  and  the  little  woman  had  a  row  to-day,  and  that  it 
isn't  over  by  a  long  shot.  And,  after  much  coaxin',  she 
gave  me  her  word  of  honor  as  a  lady — just  think  of  that, 
Mr.  Blake ! — that  she  believed  the  young  gentleman  we 
are  so  anxious  to  find  is  alive  and  well." 

"How  did  she  learn  that?" 

"She  didn't  say." 

"It  was  not  from  her  mistress?" 

"No.     I'm  most  sure  of  that." 

"Then,  Phipps,  she  must  have  overheard  Featherstone 
saying  so. ' ' 

"That's  my  belief." 

"Good;  you  have  found  out  all  I  want  to  know.  If 
you  could  get  Clem  to  drink  a  little  wine  to-night  she 
might  be  more  communicative ;  suppose  you  try  it, 
Phipps." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Blake;  and  may  you  have  the  same 
good  luck  as  a  Kanaka  that  you  always  had  as  a  white 
man,"  and,  with  this,  the  two  men  shook  hands  and 
parted. 

Blake  was  so  confident  of  his  disguise  that  he  took  no 
pains  to  keep  in  the  shadows,  but  sauntered  through  the 
streets  with  the  inevitable  cheroot  between  his  lips,  and 
evidently  indifferent  to  the  eager  groups  discussing  the 
situation  before  the  bars. 

He  passed  the  building  where  the  sailors  from  the 
American  warship  were  quartered,  and  he  watched  with 
some  interest  a  man  fastening,  over  the  circular  arch  of 
the  gateway  leading  into  the  grounds,  a  signboard,  on 


158  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

which,  in  gold  and  black  letters,  was  the  legend:  "CAMP 
BOSTON." 

Not  an. arrow-shot  away  was  Kohala's  house,  in  wliicli 
he  knew  Featherstone  still  lived.  Although  it  was  a  warm 
night  the  shutters  were  closed  and  the  curtains  were 
drawn ;  but  they  did  not  entirely  conceal  the  glow  that 
told  there  was  a  light  oil  the  other  side,  with  some  one  to 
enjoy  it. 

Blake  knew  that  the  servants  here  were  all  men  and 
natives  and  that  they  were  devoted  to  Kohala,  for  they 
had  been  brought  over  to  wait  on  him  from  his  planta 
tion  in  Hawaii  after  his  return  from  abroad.  But  as 
they  were  a  single-minded  lot,  and  could  have  been 
easily  influenced  by  Featherstone,  he  thought  it  ad. 
visable  not  to  communicate  with  them  directly. 

He  went  back  to  the  stable,  directed  thither  by  the 
low  hum  of  voices,  and  he  succeeded  in  secreting  him 
self  so  as  to  be  able  to  overhear  all  that  was  being  said 
without  attracting  attention. 

Blake  was  interested  to  learn  that  the  subject  upper 
most  in  his  mind  was  the  one  that  agitated  the  men  at 
the  stable.  In  hushed  and  almost  tearful  voices  they 
discussed  the  absence  of  their  master,  and  one  of  them. 
evidently  voicing  the  sentiments  of  his  companions, 
said: 

"If  our  master  does  not  come  back  in  two  more  suns 
I  shall  run  off  and  make  my  way  home  to  my  wife  in 
Hawaii.  I  do  not  like  this  white  man,  and  my  heart 
would  be  lighter  if  he  was  away  and  Kohala  was  here.'' 

"This  was  said  in  the  Hawaiian  tongue,  otherwise 
Featherstone,  who  had  advanced  from  the  house  through 
the  darkness  without  being  seen  and  with  as  little  noise 
as  if  he  were  a  shadow,  must  have  heard  this  opinion  of 
himself. 

Addressing  the  group  of  men,  who  huddled  together 
as  if  frightened  as  soon  a,s  they  became  aware  of  his 
presence,  Featherstone  said: 

"I  am  going  away,  and  may  not  be  back  till  near  day 
light.  Do  you  hear  me.  Kam?" 

"Ye — yes.  sa,  I  heah  yo',"  said  one  of  the  men,  wjth 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  159 

an  accent  very  much  like  that  of  a  plantation  negro  in 
the  Cotton  States. 

Kam  was  Kohala's  major-domo,  a  big,  gentle,  single- 
hearted  fellow,  who,  till  the  return  of  his  young  master, 
had  never  been  off  the  great  sugar  plantation  on  Hawaii 
since  he  was  born  there,  thirty-five  years  before. 

"And,  Kam?" 

"Yes,  sa." 

' ' Don't  leave  the  house. ' ' 

"Oh,  no,  sa;  I  no  leave." 

"And  if  any  one  calls  and  asks  for  me  you  tell  them 
I  am  asleep  and  feeling  very  sick.  Do  you  understand 
that,  Kam?" 

"Oh,  yes,  sa;  I  on'stan',"  said  the  man. 

Blake,  who  was  crouching  close  up  against  the  stable 
wall,  expected  to  hear  Featherstone  saying  something 
that  would  indicate  his  departure,  but  he  could  not 
catch  even  the  fall  of  his  feet.  He  had  evidently  gone 
as  quickly  and  mysteriously  as  he  had  come,  and  the 
natives  must  have  known  it,  for  they  resumed  their 
low- voiced  use  of  their  liquid,  full-voweled  mother 
tongue. 

Featherstone  had  gone,  not  back  to  the  house  cer 
tainly,  but  in  what  direction  Blake  was,  for  the  instant, 
at  a  loss  to  determine. 

Again  that  peculiar  intuition,  that  does  not  come 
through  reasoning,  but  which,  110  matter  how  mani 
fested,  is  genius,  came  to  Blake's  help.  With  a  sense 
as  fine  and  acute  as  the  bloodhound's,  and  which  led 
him,  instead  of  his  directing  it,  he  sprang  lightly  and 
noiselessly  over  the  hedge  and  into  the  street.  Without 
an  instant's  hesitation  he  turned  his  back  to  the  city's 
lights  and  started  out  the  street  that  led  to  the  Punch 
Bowl,  or  which,  for  some  distance,  might  be  taken  by 
those  walking  or  driving  to  the  great  Pali  Cliff. 

There  was  nothing  ahead,  nothing  behind  him,  noth 
ing  in  sight  to  impel  him  to  this  course,  yet  he  was  as 
sure  of  his  ground  as  if  the  midday  sun  were  blazing 
down  on  the  form  of  Featherstone  a  few  paces  in  the 
advance. 

Blake  knew  that  Featherstone,  like  most  Englishmen, 


160  KOHALA   OP    HAWAII. 

was  an  excellent  pedestrian,  and  that  once  he  was  out 
side  the  city's  limits  and  where  there  was  no  necessity 
for  care  he  would  walk  with  great  rapidity;  but  in 
that  the  man  on  his  trail  was  quite  his  equal,  in  ad 
dition  to  having  superior  powers  of  endurance. 

It  did  not  take  Blake  long  to  leave  the  city  behind 
him,  and  a  silent,  deserted  road  in  front.  Here  and 
there,  to  the  right  and  left,  he  could  see  a  light  in  the 
little  frame  house  of  a  Portuguese  gardener,  that  indus 
trious  and  thrifty  people  owning  and  cultivating  much 
of  the  land  on  either  side  of  the  road  along  which  he 
sped. 

He  wore  felt  shoes  that  were  even  more  noiseless  in 
their  fall  than  the  bare  feet  would  have  been.  Now  and 
then  Blake  stopped  to  listen,  sometimes  placing  his  ear 
to  the  ground,  like  an  Indian  on  the  trail  who  know.1:? 
that  the  solid  earth  is  a  better  conductor  of  sound  than 
the  air. 

After  each  examination  Blake  hurried  on  with  m- 
creasedjspeed,  which  \vas  an  assurance  of  his  increasing 
confidence. 

At  length,  and  after  having  gone  over  a  distance  at 
least  two  miles  from  the  city's  limit,  he  slackened  his 
pace  and  advanced  with  greater  caution. 

It  was  a  clear,  starlit  night,  and  the  air  was  as  still 
as  if  it  had  gone  to  sleep,  so  that  even  the  droning  of 
an  occasional  beetle  or  the  whiz  of  a  passing  bat  made 
a  loud  and  disturbing  noise. 

The  pawing  and  impatient  snorting  of  horses  at  a  halt 
at  length  brought  Blake's  cautious  advance  to  a  stop. 

He  was  about  to  move  on  again  in  the  direction  of  the 
animals — they  might  have  strayed  into  the  highway  from 
their  pastures — when  he  heard  the  penetrating,  sibilant 
whispering  of  men  in  front. 

Down  on  hands  and  knees  he  dropped  and  crept  rapidly 
forward  till  he  was  within  twenty  feet  of  the  men,  whose 
dark  forms  could  be  seen  against  the  stars  as  they  stood 
beside  their  horses. 

"Very  well,  Pedro,  we  can  discuss  this  as  we  go  on. 
Mount,  my  man,  for  there  is  no  time  to  lose." 

Blake  recognized  Featherstone's  voice.  From  the  name 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  161 

"Pedro"  he  inferred  that  the"  other  man  was  a  Portu 
guese.  He  had  just  reached  this  conclusion,  and  was 
deploring  the  fact  that  he  was  on  foot,  when  the  two 
men  sprang  into  their  saddles  with  the  ease  of  skilled 
horsemen  and  galloped  away  in  the  direction  of  the 
Pali. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
KOHALA'S  SITUATION. 

THE  plan  to  kidnap  Kohala  was  not  made  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment.  For  a  long  time  Featherstone  had 
thought  of  it  as  an  alternative  to  which  he  might  be 
forced  in  the  event  of  the  Americans  deposing  the  Queen. 

Through  his  emissaries,  the  night  of  the  revolution,  he 
kept  track  of  the  young  man  from  the  timelie  went  to 
the  rendezvous  where  the  troops  under  Colonel  Loring 
assembled  up  to  the  minute  that  he  was  sent  with  the 
message  to  Colonel  Ellis  at  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 

The  looked-for  opportunity  came  just  when  Kohala, 
disappointed  at  not  finding  Marguerite  Holmes  at  home, 
left  the  cottage  and  turned  into  the  dark  street  encum 
bered  with  the  building  material  of  the  new  Episcopal 
church,  which  prevented  its  being  a  thoroughfare  at 
night. 

Featherstone  had  a  closed  carriage  in  waiting,  and  he 
was  inside  the  carriage  when  two  masked  men,  with 
pistols  in  their  right  hands,  forced  Kohala  inside. 

Featherstone  was  playing  the  part  of  prisoner.  He 
had  been  seized  in  the  same  way,  so  he  told  Kohala, 
and  what  the  outcome  of  it  was  to  be  he  did  not  know; 
but  he  was  sure  that  the  Americans  were  at  the  bottom 
of  the  outrage  and  that  he  was  made  a  victim  because 
he  was  the  friend  of  Kohala,  whom  they  wanted  to  get 
out  of  the  way  so  that  there  might  be  no  obstacle  to  their 
scheme  of  annexation. 

"But,"  said  Featherstone,  as  the  carriage,  with  the 
blinds  pulled  down,  sped  out  of  the  illuminated  streets 


162  KOHALA    OF    HAWAII. 

and  into  the  dark  country,  "I  have  always  been  ready 
to  ISy  down  my  life  for  you,  and  if  it  comes  to  that  now 
I  shall  not  flinch  from  the  sacrifice;  all  I  ask  is  that 
they  save  yourself  so  that  some  day  you  may  inherit 
your  rights." 

Kohala  believed  this  implicitly,  and  more  worldly  men, 
finding  themselves  in  the  same  position,  would  have 
shown  the  same  credulity. 

lie  believed  that  the  captain  was  a  prisoner,  and  he 
regretted  it  more  than  he  did  the  danger  that  threatened 
himself,  for  his  friend's  suffering  was  because  of  his 
fidelity,  and  Kohala  had  a  royal  appreciation  of  this 
quality. 

Of  late  lie  had  not  felt  as  warmly  toward  Featherstoiie 
as  he  did  before  their  coming  to  Hawaii. 

He  did  not  like  his  monarchical  tendencies ;  but,  above 
all,  he  did  not  like  the  familiar  way  in  which  he  spoke 
of  Marguerite  Holmes.  But  now,  with  youthful  gener 
osity,  he  chided  himself  for  ever  having  harbored  an  un 
kind  thought  of  this  noble  and  devoted  friend. 

It  should  be  said  that  as  soon  as  Kohala  was  seized  his 
pistol  was  taken  from  him,  and  he  was  threatened  with 
instant  death  if  he  made  an  outcry  or  attempted  to  es 
cape.  Featherstoiie  had  the  same  story  to  tell,  and  he 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  purpose  of  their  captors 
was  to  hold  them  for  a  ransom. 

"Though,"  he  said,  with  his  mouth  close  to  Kohala 's 
ear  as  the  carriage  rolled  on,  "it  may  be  that  these  men 
are  your  warmest  adherents,  and  that  their  purpose  is 
to  get  you  away  from  the  influence  of  the  Americans 
and  make  you  King  of  Hawaii  in  spite  of  yourself." 

To  this  Kohala  made  no  response.  He  knew  that  the 
men  who  made  him  prisoner  were  Portuguese,  and  he 
believed  that  the  Queen's  party  were  responsible  for  the 
outrage. 

After  two  hours'  rapid  driving  the  road  became  so 
rough  that  the  horses  were  brought  down  to  a  walk,  and 
then  Kohala  learned,  from  the  sounds  behind,  that  they 
were  being  followed  by  two  mounted  men. 

The  beating  of  branches  against  the  carriage  roof  ;ui$. 
the  crashing  under  the  wheels  and  the  horses'  feet  tolA 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  163 

that  they  were  going  through  a  dense  underbrush  and 
over  a  route  that  had  not  been  much  traveled. 

It  was  to  Kohala,  who  was  consumed  by  curiosity 
rather  than  fear,  as  if  the  sun  had  gone  down  for  the 
last  time.  It  seemed  an  age  since  he  had  parted  from 
Colonel  Ellis  and  a  year  of  black  torture  since  he  had 
entered  this  jolting  vehicle. 

At  length  the  carriage  halted,  and  the  barking  of  a 
pack  of  curs  told  that  they  were  in  the  neighborhood 
of  a  house,  a  fact  that  was  soon  confirmed  by  the  flashing 
of  lights  and  the  stamping  of  many  feet  on  a  wide  piazza. 

A  man  with  a  perforated  tin  lantern  came  to  the  car 
riage  door,  and,  pulling  it  open,  he  said,  with  a  foreign 
accent : 

"This  is  the  place,  gentlemen;  get  out." 

They  were  conducted  into  the  house,  which,  though 
in  a  state  of  decay,  looked  as  if  it  had  at  one  time  been 
a  place  of  some  pretensions. 

"Now,  gentlemen,"  said  the  man  with  the  lantern,  "I 
can  assure  you  both  that  if  you  remain  quiet  and  make 
no  attempt  to  get  away  you  will  be  kindly  treated.  We 
must  keep  you  in  separate  rooms,  and  you  need  not  be 
afraid  of  sleeping  till  you  are  entirely  rested." 

"May  I  ask  why  you  have  brought  us  here?"  asked 
Kohala. 

"You  are  free  to  ask  any  questions  you  choose;  but 
to-night,  at  least,  you  will  get  110  answers,"  said  the  man 
with  the  lantern. 

Kohala  was  conducted  to  a  bedroom  in  a  wing  of  the 
building ;  but  as  he  shook  hands  with  Featherstone,  who 
saw  fit  to  affect  depression,  he  whispered  to  him : 

"Do  not  lose  heart,  captain ;  depend  on  it,  our  friends 
will  be  sure  to  find  us  and  all  will  be  well  again." 

As  soon  as  Kohala  had  been  taken  out  of  sight  and 
hearing  Featherstone  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter,  and, 
grasping  the  hand  of  the  man  who  had  been  officiating 
with  the  lantern,  he  said  : 

"Well,  Pedro,  old  man,  that  worked  like  a  charm. 
Never  saw  anything  neater  since  I  was  born.  Come,  let 
us  celebrate  the  event  with  a  stiff  glass  of  brandy,  and 


164  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

be  quick  about  it,  for  I  must  be  home  and  in  my  little 
bed  before  daylight. ' ' 

"Pedro  was  evidently  the  master  of  the  establishment 
and  the  father  of  the  pretty  dark-eyed  girl  who  brought 
in  the  brandy  and  water,  and  whom  Featherstone  tried 
to  compliment  by  saying  she  was  fit  to  be  the  wife  of 
a  king,  and  adding : 

"And  who  knows  but  you  may  be  a  queen  yet,  sweet 
Annetta." 

The  girl  laughed  and  showed  her  white  teeth  in  a  way 
that  told  her  delight  with  the  flattery.  She  evidently 
knew  that  her  father  and  Featherstone  wished  to  be  alone, 
for  as  soon  as  she  had  set  the  liquor  and  glasses  before 
them  she  bowed  and  withdrew. 

"Now,  Pedro,"  said  Featherstone,  after  they  had 
drained  their  glasses  and  he  had  risen  and  was  buttoning 
up  his  coat,  "remember  we  are  playing  for  big  stakes." 

"Trust  me  not  to  forget,"  said  Pedro,  with  a  knowing 
shake  of  the  bushy,  black  head  and  an  uninviting  exhi 
bition  of  tobacco-stained  teeth. 

"Take  good  care  of  our  young  friend  and  see  that  he 
does  not  get  out  of  your  sight.  Of  course,  he  will  want 
to  know  why  he  is  held  here,  and,  of  course,  you  will 
impress  on  him  the  fact  that  you  are  acting  under 
orders  and  that  it  is  for  his  own  good  and  safety." 

"Oh,  I  understand  all  that.  If  there's  any  mistake, 
captain,  it  won't  be  through  me.  I  don't  swear  and 
bluster  like  you  English  and  Americans,  but  I  think  and 
I  act,"  and  Pedro  tapped  his  forehead  and  winked  one 
eye  to  show  that  he  thought  himself  quite  as  quick  and 
clever  as  he  did  the  man  advising  him. 

With  a  perfect  understanding  as  to  what  was  to  be 
done  in  the  case  of  expected  and  unexpected  emergencies 
Featherstone  went  out  to  the  carriage  in  which  he  and 
Kohala  had  come  and  was  driven  back  to  the  city. 

The  bedroom  in  which  Kohala  found  himself  was,  01% 
rather,  had  been,  elaborately  furnished.  But  the  great 
four-poster  bed,  with  its  yellow  canopy  and  torn  mus- 
quito  netting,  the  chairs  with  the  upholstery  stained 
and  ragged,  the  heavy  curtains  that  suggested  insect 
flights  and  dust  clouds  if  they  were  touched,  and  the 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  165 

floor,  covered  with  faded  Turkish  rugs,  all  bespoke  a 
day  of  luxury,  if  not  of  taste,  that  had  long  since  de 
parted.  Kohala  was  something  of  a  fatalist ;  perhaps 
it  would  describe  him  more  accurately  to  say  he  was 
a  philosopher.  He  realized  that  he  was  tired,  and  that 
neither  freting  nor  personal  effort  could  better  his  situa 
tion,  so  he  wisely  took  of  his  coat  and  boots,  extin 
guished  the  light  and  threw  himself  on  the  bed. 

It  was  an  occasion,  if  ever  one  had  come  in  his  life, 
when  he  could  not  fairly  be  charged  with  selfishness  if 
he  gave  all  his  thoughts  to  the  situation  in  which  he  was 
placed  and  the  dangers  that  unquestionably  threatened 
him ;  but  instead,  he  thought  of  Marguerite,  the  wife 
whom  he  had  not  seen  since  the  hour  when  they  were 
married,  and  he,  with  his  joyous  secret  locked  close  in 
his  heart,  started  off  to  visit  the  woman  to  whom  he 
had  been  betrothed  without  his  own  consent. 

As  he  thought  it  over  he  became  more  and  more  con 
vinced  that  he  had  done  an  unwise  thing  in  keeping 
his  secret  from  Colonel  Ellis;  but  never,  from  first  to 
last,  did  he  regret  the  act  that  made  the  woman  he 
loved  his  wife.  Had  it  not  been  for  his  capture  he 
would  have  told  Colonel  Ellis  what  he  had  done  the 
morning  following  the  revolution,  and  if  the  colonel 
and  others  objected,  as  he  expected  they  would  do, 
he  was  resolved  to  sell  out  his  property  and  take  his 
wife  to  any  country  she  preferred,  for  no  matter  where 
it  might  be  between  the  Equator  and  the  Poles  he  felt 
he  would  be  happy  with  her. 

All  his  love  for  Hawaii,  and  his  readiness  to  aid 
her  through  any  sacrifice  but  one,  remained.  In  one 
thing,  his  marriage,  in  which  he  was  himself  the  most 
profoundly  interested,  he  could  not,  as  a  free  man, 
permit  others  to  interfere;  and  who  will  say  that  he 
was  not  right? 

From  thoughts  of  Marguerite  he  gradually  drifted  off 
into  dreams  of  her,  and  sleep  accomplished  what  would 
have  been  impossible  to  him  if  awake,  for  it  brought  her 
to  his  side. 

When  he  awoke  the  sun  was  shining  in  through  the 
faded  curtains,  and  an  old,  wrinkled  woman,  Pedro's 


166  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

mother,  was  moving  about  the  room  like  a  sprightly, 
light-footed  ghost  that  by  some  means  had  got  into 
the  wrong  body. 

As  soon  as  the  old  woman  saw  that  the  young  man 
was  awake  she  darted  out  of  the  room,  as  if  alarmed 
at  the  sight ;  but  in  less  than  a  minute  she  was  back 
again  with  a  little  plaited  tray  on  which  was  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  some  crackers. 

"Eat  some,  then  you  feel  good."  Having  said  this, 
the  old  woman  sat  down  the  tray  and  again  darted  out. 

Kohala  dressed,  by  putting  on  his  coat  and  pulling  on 
his  boots,  then  he  went  to  one  of  the  two  windows,  and, 
pushing  back  the  faded  curtains,  looked  out. 

The  prospect  was  not  inviting.  A  high  hill  shut  out 
the  view  a  few  hundred  yards  away.  A  few  scraggy 
palms,  towering  over  a  great  expanse  of  that  curse  of 
the  islands,  yellow  lantana,  looked  as  if  they  had  strayed 
up  from  the  shore  and  were  hopelessly  lost.  There 
were  lemon  and  orange  trees,  sadly  in  need  of  prun 
ing,  near  the  house,  and  some  sickly  decorative  plants 
and  flowers  that  looked  as  if  they  had  grown  weary 
of  the  struggle  for  existence  under  the  most  depressing- 
difficulties. 

He  saw  a  number  of  lean  yellow  curs  and  draggle- 
tailed  chickens  scurrying  through  .the  weeds,  and  he 
heard  in  the  distance  the  neighing  of  a  horse. 

He  was  about  to  let  the  curtains  fall  and  turn  back 
to  the  coffee  when  two  villainous-looking  men,  with 
heavy  black  beards  and  long  black  hair,  came  to  view, 
and,  as  they  halted  for  consultation  under  a  palm,  one 
of  them  drew  a  long  knife  from  his  belt  and  gave  an 
outlet  to  his  energy  by  slashing  into  the  bark. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

A   PLACE   OF   MANY   MYSTERIES. 

THE  man  who  never  knows  fear  cannot  be  truthfully 
called  a  brave  man.     He  only  is  brave  who,  despite  his 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  167 

fear  of  the  danger,  resolutely  dares  to  face  it.  The  sight 
of  the  man  under  the  palm  was  not  calculated  to  allay  the 
suspicions  of  Kohala  as  to  the  difficulties  that  environed 
him ;  yet,  even  when  he  saw  that  the  men  noticed  him 
and  moved  away,  as  if  annoyed  at  their  discovery,  his 
color  did  not  change  nor  did  his  heart  beat  faster. 

When  the  men  had  disappeared  in  the  jungle  of  under 
brush  Kohala  stepped  back  and  drank  his  coffee  and  ate 
the  crackers  without  any  sign  of  agitation. 

He  found  appliances  for  washing  and  combing  his  hair, 
though  they  were  newer  and  cheaper,  and  so  not  in 
keeping  with  the  furnishings  of  the  dingy  old  apart 
ment. 

He  had  finished  brushing  his  wavy  black  hair  when 
he  heard  a  rap  at  the  door,  and,  before  he  could  speak 
the  "come  in"  that  rose  to  his  lips,  it  was  opened,  and 
Annetta,  looking  like  a  bacchante,  with  a  wreath  of 
crimson  flowers  about  her  blue-black  hair,  entered,  and, 
with  a  blush  that  added  to  the  healthy  beauty  of  her 
face  and  a  bow  that  told  she  was  not  versed  in  that 
manner  of  salutation,  she  said : 

"May  it  please  Your  Majesty,  breakfast  is  ready." 

"Majesty!"  repeated  Kohala,  with  amused  surprise, 
"why,  rny  young  friend,  I  am  not  a  king." 

"No,  sir,"  said  Annetta,  with  more  confidence,  "but 
you  can  be  one  whenever  you  say  the  word,  and  that's 
the  same  thing." 

"It  may  be — and  then  it  may  not;  but  we  will  let  that 
pass.  What  is  your  name?" 

"Annetta." 

"Annetta  what?" 

"Just  Annetta^  if  Your  Majesty  pleases." 

"Have  you  a  father?" 

"Oh,  yes,  sir." 

"What  is  his  name?" 

"Pedro,  may  it  please  you." 

"Pedro  what?" 

"That  is  all,  sir." 

"No  surname?" 

"I  do  not  know  what  that  is." 

"What  is  your  nationality?" 


168  KOHAL.A   OF    HAWAII. 

"I  do  not  know." 

"Where  were  you  bom?" 

"In  Honolulu." 

"And  your  father?" 

"He  is  a  Portuguese." 

"What  is  the  name  of  this  place?' 

"May  it  please  Your  Majesty,  it  has  none." 

"Upon  my  word,"  said  Kohala,  with  a  laugh   Mint 
seemed  to  fascinate  the  girl,  "you  appear  to  ha* 
mysterious  dearth  of  names  here.     But  you  said  some. 
thing  about  breakfast." 

"Yes.  Your  Majesty." 

"Why  do  you  call  me  'Your  Majesty'?" 

"Because  I  was  told  to  do  so." 

"By  •whom?" 

"My  father." 

"Does  he  own  this  place?" 

"I  do  not  know." 

"Is  h«-  bra*?" 

"Xo,  sir." 

'  Y-,*li*jiv  i.-  he?" 

"I  do  not  know." 

"Well,  Annetta,  I  shall  not  try  further  to  exhaust  your 
information,  though  I  am  sorry  to  see  it  is  sadly  limited 
in  the  directions  that  most  interest  me. ' ' 

The  girl  had  evidently  been  instructed  as  to  what  she 
must  do  and  say,  for  she  held  the  door  open  for  Kohala 
to  pass  out,  and,  as  soon  as  he  had  done  so,  she  darted 
ahead  and  led  him  into  a  little  apartment  that  showed 
signs  of  having  been  recently  fitted  up  as  a  private  din 
ing-room. 

He  found  the  table  set  for  one.  He  expected  to  see 
Featherstone,  for  the  true  state  of  affairs  never  dawned 
on  him,  and  as  he  was  not  there,  he  asked  Anuetta  the 
reason,  and  was  answered  by  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders 
and  the  same  "I  do  not  know,  sir." 

Kohala  made  no  further  investigations.     The  break- 
fasl    \va.-,    ample,   varied  and   well-cooked  and  served, 
Anuetta  being  the  only  person  he  saw  during  the  meal. 
soon  as  he  had  finished  breakfast  his  pretty  attend 
ant,  who  seemed  delighted  to  be  able  to  wait  on  him, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  169 

fed  him   into  still  another  apartment  off    the   dining- 
room,  and  said : 

"This  is  Your  Majesty's  parlor,  and  you  will  find 
good  cigars  on  the  table,  and  then1  is  wine  over  in  that 
closet,  and  some  books  in  the  one  near  it,  if  Your  Maj 
esty  cares  to  read.  And  if  you  should  want  anything 
further  please  to  ring  this  little  bell  and  I  shall  come  to 
you.  for  I  will  be  in  waiting  in  the  next  room  and  anx 
ious  to  serve  you." 

Having  delivered  herself  of  this  little  speech,  which 
sounded  as  if  she  had  repeated  it  over  before  and  was 
not  quite  certain  of  the  part.  Annetta  bowed  again, 
blushed  becomingly  and  was  about  to  leave,  when  Ko- 
hala  called  to  her : 

"Wait  a  moment,  Annetta." 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty."  and  she  turned  and  bowed,  as 
if  that,  too.  were  something  she  had  been  instructed  not 
to  forget  in  her  intercourse  with  the  young  man. 

"You  treat  me  as  if  I  were  a  prince/' 

"And  so  you  are,  Your  Majesty. 

"Then  I  must  be  a  free  man  and  so  at  liberty  to  walk 
about  these  grounds  as  I  choose. ' '  Seeing  that  she  looked 
doubting  and  confused,  he  added:  "But  perhaps  I  am 
a  prisoner?  If  so,  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  my 
jailer,  though  I  can't  say  so  much  for  my  captors." 

Annetta  did  not  understand  his  compliment,  but  she 
never  lost  sight  of  the  part  that  had  been  assigned  her. 

"If  Your  Majesty  pleases,"  she  said,  'it  wi'l  be  better 
that  you  should  remain  in  the  house." 

"In  what  way  better?" 

"It  will  be  safer. " 

"Then  there  is  danger  outside?' 

"Yes.  Your  Majesty." 

"Guards?*1 

''Oh,  yes.  but  — 

"But  what,  Annetta?     Speak  out." 

"If  Your  Majesty  were  to  go  om>ide  and  any  harm 
were  to  come  to  you  the  blame  would  fall  on  me." 

"Who  would  blame  you?" 

"I  cannot  tell  you  names." 

"Verv  well.     I 'an  von  tell  me  where  the  gentleman  is 


170  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

who  was  brought  here  a  prisoner  with  me  last  night?" 

"I  cannot." 

"You  are  ordered  not  to :  is  that  it?" 

"Yes,  Your  Majesty." 

"But  you  can  tell  me,  surely,  if  he  is  living  and  well?" 

"He  is  living  and  well,  Your  Majesty,"  and  fearing 
to  say  more,  if,  indeed,  she  had  not  already  said  too 
much,  Annetta  left  the  room. 

Kohala  lit  a  cigar — it  was  a  good  one— and  feeling 
that  the  only  wise  course  left  him  was  to  remain  quiet 
and  await  developments,  he  got  a  book  out  of  the  closet 
and  threw  himself  on  the  sofa.  His  getting  the  book 
was  the  result  of  habit,  for  he  never  looked  into  it,  but 
laid  it  on  his  breast,  closed  his  eyes,  and,  with  his  fingers 
interlocked  about  his  head,  he  gave  free  rein  to  his  specu 
lations. 

Now  and  then  he  rose  and  took  a  turn  about  the  room, 
or  looked  out  through  the  grimy  windows  at  the  dreary 
prospect  outside ;  but  he  never  did. so  without  seeing  the 
two  men  whom  he  first  noticed  under  the  palm  that 
morning. 

The  fact  that  the  men  who  took  his  pistol  from  him 
the  night  before  left  him  his  wallet  and  watch  convinced 
him  that  they  were  not  ordinary  robbers,  though  he  did 
not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  was  in  their  power  to  get 
possession  of  these  articles  any  time  they  wanted  them. 
His  watch  had  never  been  such  company  nor  had  he 
ever  consulted  it  so  often  before  in  the  same  space  of 
time.  He  was  looking  at  its  face  and  saw  it  was  one 
o'clock  when  Annetta  again  came  in  to  tell  him  that 
luncheon  awaited  him  in  the  adjoining  room. 

"You  are  very  kind,  Annetta,"  he  said;  "but  I  am 
sorry  to  have  troubled  you,  for  I  do  not  feel  at  all 
hungry." 

"Is  Your  Majesty  ill?"  she  asked,  with  unaffected 
anxiety. 

"Could  you  expect  any  man  to  feel  well  in  my  position, 
Annetta?  Would  you  feel  well  and  happy  if  you  were 
in  my  place?" 

Her  lips  trembled  and  she  hesitated,  then  she  said, 
though  it  evidently  was  not  what  she  had  intended  saying : 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  171 

"If  you  will  not  go  to  luncheon,  then  there  are  some 
men  who  would  like  to  speak  with  Your  Majesty." 

"Who  are  they?" 

"They  are  your  friends,  but  I  cannot  tell  their  names." 

"Very  well,  Annetta,  in  Heaven's  name  show  them  in, 
and  if  there  is  any  'worst'  to  this  thing  they  may  be 
able  to  tell  me  what  it  is. ' ' 

Annetta  went  to  the  door,  whispered  to  some  one  out 
side,  then  the  cracked  voice  of  the  old  woman  was  heard 
calling  to  a  third  party,  in  a  language  Kohala  did  not 
understand,  and  this  was  followed  by  the  tramping  of 
heavily  shod  feet  on  a  bare  wooden  floor. 

The  tramping  came  nearer,  and  Kohala  looked  up  to 
see  five  men  entering  the  room,  with  Pedro,  whom  he 
recognized  as  the  man  who  had  carried  the  lantern,  at 
their  head.  The  young  man  noticed,  further,  that  his 
visitors  all  had  big  black  beards  of  exactly  the  same  cut, 
and  as  these  appendages  did  not  match  their  hair  and 
faces,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  assumed 
for  the  purpose  of  disguise. 

Kohala  rose,  and  his  visitors  respectfully  stood  before 
him  in  line,  with  their  eyes  fixed  humbly  on  the  hats 
which  they  held  in  their  hands. 

"Your  Majesty,"  began  Pedro,  "we  are  all  your  true, 
good  friends,  and  we've  come  here  to  talk  with  you  and 
to  tell  you  that  it's  because  we  love  you  that  we  took  you 
away  last  night  from  people — from  the  Americans — that 
we  know  are  your  enemies." 

"I  suppose  I  should  feel  very  grateful  to  you  for  this 
extremely  thoughtful  precaution,"  said  Kohala,  his  sar 
casm  entirely  wasted  on  the  men  before  him,  "and  par 
ticularly  in  showing  me  that  the  people  I  have  been 
regarding  as  friends  are,  in  truth,  my  enemies.  Of 
course,  you  have  informed  the  Americans  that  you 
brought  me  here  and  why  you  did  it?" 

Not  at  all  abashed  by  this,  Pedro  replied : 

"No,  we  haven't;  there'll  be  plenty  of  time  to  act 
when  Your  Majesty  gives  the  word." 

"But  I  am  not  a  majesty,"  said  K«hala,  with  less 
patience  than  lie  had  shown  to  Annetta  when  she  ad 
dressed  him  in  the  sam-a  way. 


172  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"No;  but  you  will  be  a  king  as  soon  as  you  say  the 
word,  and  that's  why  we  are  here,"  said  Pedro,  with 
the  confident  manner  of  a  man  sure  of  his  ground. 

"But  whom  do  you  represent?" 

-"We  represent  the  foreign  element  on  these  islands; 
and  outside,  waiting  to  see  Your  Majesty,  are  a  score  of 
Hawaiians,  who  represent  a  large  majority  of  all  the 
natives. ' ' 

"And  what  is  your  purpose  and  theirs?" 

"We  want  you  to  proclaim  your  rights." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"We  know,  and  Your  Majesty  knows,  you  are  the 
rightful  sovereign  of  Hawaii.  You  may  not  want  to 
be  king,  but  the  people  want  it,  and  you  owe  it  to  them 
to  speak  out." 

"I  might  as  well  have  it  over  with  both  parties  at 
once,"  said  Kohala.  "Show  my  countrymen  in." 

"Before  doing  that,  Your  Majesty,  and  before  making 
up  your  mind,  which  it's  necessary  to  be  careful  about, 
it  is  right  that  I  should  tell  you  that  if  you  refuse  the 
wishes  of  these  people  who  are  so  ready  to  lay  down  their 
h>es  for  you,  that  they  may  come  to  look  on  you  as  a 
traitor,  to  their  cause,  and  then  I  would  not  want  to  be 
responsible  for  what  they  may  do,"  said  Pedro. 

There  was  no  misunderstanding  this.  It  presented  the 
case  to  Kohala  in  an  entirely  new,  and  by  no  means  an 
alluring,  aspect. 

Whether  the  men  in  the  room  or  the  natives  waiting 
outside  represented  the  elements  they  claimed  to  or  no, 
Kohala  felt  that  they  were  desperate — his  own  capture 
warranted  that  belief — and  that  if  he  did  not  comply 
or  seem  to  comply  with  their  demands  he  might  be  dis 
posed  of,  as  had  one  of  his  ancestors  a  few  generations 
back. 

He  had  sufficient  self-command  to  conceal  his  nervous 
ness  and  the  quickness  of  thought  that  under  such  cir 
cumstances  is  a  mark  of  true  greatness. 

"Show  in  my  countrymen,"  he  said,  "and  let  us  talk 
like  friends." 


KOHALA   OP    HAWAII.  173 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A     TRYING     SITUATION. 

ALTHOUGH  he  had  seen  much  of  the  world  in  a  geo 
graphical  sense,  Kohala  was  a  child  in  his  judgment  of 
inen,  and,  like  all  guileless  and  impulsive  natures,  he 
was  influenced  by  exteriors  and  inclined  to  believe  that 
all  men — at  least,  those  to  whom  he  gave  his  esteem — 
were  as  honest  and  truthful  as  himself. 

He  saw-,  or  thought  he  saw,  the  reason  for  his  being 
abducted  from  Honolulu,  and  so,  while  he  could  not 
reconcile  himself  to  the  treatment,  he  regarded  it  with 
less  indignation  when  he  came  to  think  that  it  was  done 
for  what  these  devoted  but  mistaken  people  thought  to 
be  for  his  own  good. 

Not  so  much  to  avert  the  danger  that  might  threaten 
himself  as  to  save  his  friends  from  excesses  that  might 
result  in  their  own  ruin,  Kohala  made  up  his  mind  not 
to  oppose  them;  but  at  the  same  time  not  to  commit 
himself  to  a  course  which,  if  followed  out  on  the  lines 
of  its  initiation,  would  defeat  its  own  purpose. 

He  could  not  know  that  Pedro  and  his  countrymen, 
entirely  indifferent  to  the  form  of  government  in  Hawaii, 
were  working  for  the  reward  which,  in  addition  to  a 
guarantee,  Featherstone  was  to  pay  them  in  the  event 
of  success. 

Delighted  and  surprised  at  Kohala's  frankness,  Pedro 
suggested  that  they  adjourn  to  the  large  dining-room 
where  there  would  be  space  for  the  whole  party  to 
assemble. 

This  being  agreed  to,  Kohala  was  escorted  to  a  larger 
room  near  by,  the  antique  furniture  of  which  told  of 
better  and  cleaner  days.  Annetta  escorted  in  the  natives, 
not  one  of  whom  Kohala  could  recall  having  ever  seen 
before ;  but  they  looked  to  be  respectable,  earnest  men, 
and  they  saluted  him,  as  was  the  custom  of  old  in  salut 
ing  a  king,  by  touching  their  right  hands  to  the  ground 
and  then  laying  them  on  their  bowed  heads. 

Kohala  was  given  a  large  chair  at  the  head  of  the 


174  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

table,  and,  as  there  were  not  chairs  enough,  the  others 
stood  up  in  a  line  about  the  wall. 

The  silence  that  followed  was  becoming  embarrassing 
when  Pedro,  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  table,  and 
who,  as  proprietor  of  the  place,  if  not  from  his  belief 
in  his  own  superior  intelligence,  appointed  himself  mas 
ter  of  ceremonies,  said,  for  the  benefit  of  the  newcomers : 

"I  have  told  Kohala  of  Hawaii  that,  as  we  have  110 
longer  a  queen  and  do  not  want  the  Americans  to  rule 
us,  that  we  now  regard  him  as  our  king,  quite  as  much 
as  if  we  saw  him  seated  on  the  throne  established  by  his 
great  ancestor,  Kamehameha.  in  Honolulu." 

The  black  eyes  of  the  natives  took  in  fire  while  Pedro 
was  speaking,  and  at  the  conclusion  they  threw  up  their 
arms  like  one  man  and  shouted  till  the  old  rafters  rang 
with  the  echoes : 

"Long  live  Kohala  of  Hawaii !" 

A  tall  native  with  iron-gray  hair,  an  erect  figure  and 
a  scar  across  his  bronzed  brow  that  added  to  his  military 
aspect,  advanced  to  the  foot  of  the  table,  and,  after  bow 
ing  very  low  to  Koha)a,  cast  a  quick  glance  at  his  com 
panions,  as  if  to  invoke  their  attention,  and  said,  with 
the  voice  and  manner  of  a  natural  born  orator : 

"Last  night  messengers  from  Keona  of  Hawaii  came 
to  this  island  of  Oahu  to  get  the  voice  of  the  people  and 
to  learn  how  many  of  us  were  ready  to  renounce  Queen 
Liliuokalani  and  to  give  allegiance  to  Kohala.  I  speak 
only  for  those  whom  I  know,  and  in  my  sixty  years  of 
life,  during  which  our  people  have  dwindled  to  one-half, 
I  think  I  can  say  I  know  all  the  living  and  remember  the 
many  dead  of  those  many  seasons. 

"The  Queen  is  of  our  race,  yet  she  shows  her  contempt 
for  us  by  marrying  Dominis,  a  white  man,  and,  except 
the  few  who  feed  on  her  crumbs,  we  do  not  like  her; 
and  now  that  she  is  down,  we  rejoice  in  her  fall,  though 
no  native  hand  was  raised  to  bring  it  about,  and  we  can 
never  submit  to  the  rule  of  the  white  men  who  have  de 
throned  her. 

"I  remember  the  day  when  Kohala  was  born  in  Ha 
waii,  for  I  was  then  in  the  employ,  as  a  herdsman,  of 
the  great  chief,  his  father.  There  was  much  rejoicing 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  175 

among  the  people  on  the  pastures  and  on  the  planta 
tions  that  day,  and  they  said,  one  to  the  other :  'Cour 
age,  for  the  child  is  born  who  will  yet  save  us,  and,  from 
the  throne  of  the  great  Conqueror,  make  us  happy. ' 

"I  recall  the  night,  in  the  sacred  cavern  up  by  the 
lake  of  fire,  when  Kohala  of  Hawaii  was  betrothed  to 
the  little  daughter  of  the  chief  Keona.  When  the  sun 
i'os*e  in  the  morning  it  saw  us  feasting  by  the  sea,  and 
the  maidens  danced  and  sang  about  the  flower  bowers 
where  slept  the  children  on  whom  our  future  depended. 

"Since  that  day  we  have  watched  and  prayed  for  Ko 
hala.  We  did  not  like  it  when,  as  a  boy,  he  went  be 
yond  the  great  world  of  waters  from  which  the  sun 
rises ;  but  we  became  reconciled  when  we  reasoned  that 
there  lay  the  land  of  the  white  man  and  that  there  our 
prince  would  learn  the  ways  that  have  made  the  white 
man  our  master  and  use  them  so  that  we  should  become, 
at  least,  his  equal. 

"Since  Kohala's  return  there  has  come  to  us  the  story 
that  he.  too,  would  wed  among  the  whites ;  but  we  did 
not,  we  could  not  believe  it,  for  we  knew  his  race  and 
that  the  son  would  die  ere  he  broke  the  pledge  of  the 
father. 

"And  now  we  have  come  to  council  with  our  prince, 
who  needs  but  to  say  the  word  and  he  will  be  our  king. 
Swift  runners  await  within  call  to  spread  the  news  of 
his  declaration  through  Oahu,  and  boats  with  lowered 
sails  await  the  messengers  who  are  to  carry  the  glad 
tidings  to  our.  sister  islands.  If  we  would  succeed 
there  is  no  time  to  lose.  A  minute's  hesitation  may 
be  fatal.  What  says  Kohala  of  Hawaii?" 

There  was  110  mistaking  this  man's  earnestness,  and 
had  he  made  no  allusion  to  marriage  Kohala  might  have 
been  more  thrilled  by  the  patriotic  fervor  of  his  adherent. 

But  he  had  taken  a  step  which  he  would  not  retrace 
if  he  could.  He  had  deliberately  turned  his  back  on  a 
throne,  for  which  he  did  not  care,  to  be  the  husband  of 
a  woman  who  was  more  to- him  than  all  else  in  life. 

Had  he  obeyed  the  impulse  that  came  on  him  with  a 
force  that  it  cost  a  powerful  effort  to  resist  he  would 
have  told  the  old  orator  and  his  friends,  then  and  there' 


176  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

that  he  did  not  want  to  be  the  king  of  Hawaii ;  and,  fur 
ther,  that  he  had,  as  a  man,  ignored  the  pledge  made  for 
him  by  his  father  when  he  was  a  child ;  but  he  felt  that 
if  he  were  to  do  so  the  men  who  were  ready  to  worship 
him  as  the  possible  savior  of  their  country  would,  in 
their  wild  fury  at  the  discovery,  destroy  him  as  a  traitor. 
That  he  had  the  tact  that  is  often  more  potent  than  valor 
was  shown  by  his  reply.  He  determined  not  to  refer  to 
his  marriage,  nor  to  the  fact  that  he  regarded  himself  as 
a  prisoner,  but  to  show  that  the  action  of  Keona  in  get 
ting  the  voice  of  the  people  as  to  their  choice  of  a  ruler 
showed  that  a  new  and  better  method  of  selecting  sov 
ereigns  had  come  to  Hawaii. 

But,  adroit  though  this  was,  it  did  not  satisfy  Pedro  or 
the  natives.  They  wanted  Kohala  to  at  once  claim  the 
throne  by  proclamation,  as  the  only  way  of  getting  it  at 
all. 

"No,"  said  Kohala,  his  patience  at  length  threatening 
to  give  way,  tcl  can  make  no  proclamation  from  this 
place.  Here  I  am  virtually  a  prisoner.  I  am  not  blind 
to  this  fact,  though  you  treat  me  as  a  king.  I  will 
not  say  that  you  are  not  all  entirely  honest  in  your 
purpose ;  but  if  I  am  fit  to  rule  when  king  my  opinions 
should  have  weight  while  I  am  a  private  citizen.  I  see 
you  agree  to  that.  Very  well,  when  I  am  assured  that 
a  majority  of  the  people  in  these  islands  want  me  then 
I  shall  act,  but  not  before.  "That  is  my  answer,  and  it 
is  folly  longer  to  take  up  your  time  in  discussion." 

The  men  looked  at  each  other  in  a  disappointed  way. 
True,  Kohala  had  not  absolutely  rejected  their  advice, 
but  he  had  not  accepted  it,  as  they  thought  he  would. 
The  more  impulsive  of  the  natives  had  been  talking  of 
a  war  under  the  lead  of  the  young  king,  and  so  those 
who  heard  him  were  inclined  to  think  that  his  caution 
was  cowardice,  and  that  contact  with  the  whites  had 
made  him  effeminate. 

The  impression  that  he  was  still  a  prisoner  was  verified 
when  Pedro  and  two  of  his  countrymen  escorted  him 
back  to  the  little  sitting-room  assigned  him  by  Annetta 
that  morning,  and  where  he  was  told  he  must  "please 
remain  for  the  present." 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  17? 

The  natives  lived  near  by  in  the  Nuuanu  Valley,  where 
their'thatched  huts  were  set  amid  plantations  of  bananas. 

At  the  head  of  this  valley,  and  only  two  miles  away, 
though  Kohala  had  only  the  vaguest  idea  of  his  where 
abouts,  there  was  the  appalling  precipice  of  the  Pali^ 
with  the  fair  heights  of  Lanihuli  smiling  down  on  the 
scene  of  Kamehameha's  last  battle  for  united  Hawaii. 

When  night  come  Kohala  was  permitted  to  take  a 
walk,  accompanied  by  Pedro,  who,  in  his  earnestness 
to  earn  the  reward  offered  by  Featherstone,  tried  again 
to  impress  the  young  man  with  the  necessity  for  issuing 
a  proclamation  at  once.  And  on  his  part,  Kohala,  still 
loyal  to  the  man  he  thought  his  friend,  sought  in  vain 
to  learn  what  had  become  of  the  captain.  The  only 
assurance  he  could  get,  and  that  was  far  from  convinc 
ing,  was  that  the  Englishman  was  safe  and  that  he  had 
gone  away  that  morning  with  the  natives  to  try  and  di 
rect  matters  to  his — Kohala's — advantage. 

Annetta,  evidently  infatuated  with  her  father's  de 
tained  guest,  did  everything  in  her  power  to  make  him 
comfortable,  and  she  showed  an  inclination  to  remain 
talking  with  him  that  might  have  flattered  him  had  not 
her  purpose  to  impress  him  favorably  brought  more 
vividly  before  him  the  sweet  face  of  the  wife  from  whom 
he  had  been  parted  at  the  altar. 

Driven  to  desperation  by  the  danger  and  uncertainty 
of  his  situation  Kohala  made'  up  his  mind  to  make  one 
effort  for  freedom  that  night. 

Apart  from  removing  his  boots  he  did  not  undress, 
but  threw  himself  on  the  bed,  determined  to  get  out 
through  the  window  after  midnight. 

Despite  his  efforts  to  keep  awake  -he  dropped  off  to 
sleep.  He  was  aroused  by  the  tramping  o£  heavy  feet, 
and.  looking  up,  he  saw  by  the  flash  of  a  lantern  that 
Feathers toile,  with  a  look  of  indescribable1  hate  in  his 
face,  was  bending  over  him. 

Kohala,  who  had  been  dreaming  of  escape,  sprang 
from  the  bed,  and  the  two  men  stood  looking  at  each 
other,  Featherstone  being  the  first  to  speak : 

"They  let  me  go  away  to  help  you,"  he  stammered, 
"and  I  have  just  got  back." 


178  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

"Got  back  from  where?"  asked  Kohala,  and  he  pulled 
on  his  boots  and  glanced  up  at  his  visitor,  whose  face 
looked  livid  in  the  light  of  the  lantern,  which  he  still 
held  as  high  as  his  head,  though  the  expression  of  hate 
had  vanished  from  his  bloodshot  eyes. 

"From  Honolulu,"  said  Featherstone,  evidently  sur 
prised  at  the  energetic  manner  of  his  young  friend. 

"And  they  let  you  go  there?" 

"They  did." 

"Then  you  told  my  friends  of  my  situation?" 

"No.  I  had  to  pledge  myself  to  these  people  that  I  would 
not  see  Colonel  Ellis.  But  I  did  see  Mrs.  Holmes." 

"And  how  is  she?"  asked  Kohala,  eagerly. 

"She  seems  to  be  well." 

"And  you  told  her  I  was  here?" 

"I  did  not." 

"You  did  not?" 

"No." 

"May  I  ask  the  reason?" 

"Because  she  had  so  much  to  tell  of  herself  that  she 
had  no  time  to  make  inquiries  after  you,"  said  Feather- 
stone,  and  he  set  the  lantern  down  and  faced  Kohala. 

"The  meeting  does  not  seem  to  have  sweetened  your 
temper,  Captain  Featherstone,"  said  Kohala,  with  dig 
nity  "But  it  strikes  me  as  not  a  little  strange  that  you, 
claiming  to  be  my  friend,  have  been  given  jour  liberty 
and  that  you  have  not  used  it  to  get  me  out  of  this 
place." 

"Yes,  Kohala,  I  have  been  your  friend,  and  your  true 
friend ;  but  I  have  just  learned  that  you  are  not  worthy 
the  confidence  I  have  given  you  and  the  efforts  I  have 
made  for  your  elevation. ' ' 

"I  certainly  dp  not  understand  you,  captain." 

"Then  I  shall  be  plainer." 

"I  wish  you  would." 

"Without  saying  one  word  to  me  about  it,  you  got 
married." 

"I  certainly  did  not  think  your  consent  to  my  mar 
riage  at  all  essential  to  make  it  binding,  nor  do  I  think 
so  now.  May  I  ask  who  gave  you  the  information?" 

"The  lady  herself." 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  179 

"My  wife  tells  only  the  truth." 

"Ha !  are  you  sure  she  is  your  wife?" 

"I  am  certain." 

"And  that  she  has  not  another  husband  living?" 

"You  dare  not  intimate  as  much  to  me,"  said  Kohala, 
his  eyes  ablaze  with  indignation.  "You  insult  me,  when 
you  dare  to  reflect  on  the  integrity  of  the  woman  I  have 
made  my  wife!  But  if  she  were  what  you  intimate — 
and  you  know  you  lie  in  your  throat  when  you  say  it — 
then  you  must  have  known  it  when  you  introduced  me 
and  did  all  in  your  power  to  keep  us  together !  Feather- 
stone,  I  am  neither  blind  nor  a  fool.  Much  that  has 
puzzled  me  seems  clear  as  daylight  now  You  need  not 
frown.  I  do  not  fear  you.  Go!"  and  Kohala  pointed 
imperiously  to  the  door;  and  Featherstone,  not  daring 
to  trust  himself  longer,  for  he  was  clutching  at  the 
stock  of  the  pistol  in  his  pocket,  went  out  to  consult 
with  Pedro,  who  was  awaiting  him. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

BLAKE  UNDERSTANDS  HUMAN  NATURE. 

NOT  Richard  himself,  at  Bosworth  Field,  wished  for 
a  horse  more  earnestly  than  did  Blake,  when,  in  the 
darkness,  he  heard  Featherstone  and  his  companion  rid 
ing  away. 

He  knew  that  it  would  be  folly  to  try  to  follow  them 
on  foot,  so  he  stood  still  till  the  pounding  of  the  horses' 
hoofs  died  out  in  the  direction  of  the  Nuuanu  Valley, 
and  from  this  he  inferred  that  the  young  man  he  was 
in  search  of  was  concealed  up  in  that  direction. 

Feeling  that  he  had  accomplished  something,  Blake 
made  his  way  back  to  the  city,  and,  like  a  prudent  man 
who  understood  that  his  success  depended  on  keeping  up 
his  strength,  he  found  his  own  quarters  and  went  to  bed. 

The  next  morning  he  called  on  Colonel  Ellis  and  re 
ported  airthat  had  happened  the  previous  evening.  On 
hearing  that  Featherstone  was  possibly  responsible  for 


180  .KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

Kohala's  abduction  the  colonel,  who  knew  from  the 
guards  that  the  man  had  been  seen  coming  into  the  city 
early  that  morning,  was  for  arresting  him  at  once. 

"I  think  that  would  defeat  our  plans,  if,  indeed,  it  did 
not  result  in  the  death  of  the  man  we  are  so  anxious  to 
save,"  said  Blake.  "If  we  seize  Featherstone  he  will 
deny  everything  and  appeal  to  the  English  Consul  for 
protection.  No,  colonel,  we  must  follow  the  fellow  up 
and  catch  him  red-handed.  I  think  I  see  through  his 
game,  and  if  I  am  right,  it  is  a  bold  and  a  deep  one ;  but 
we  can  beat  him  at  his  own  tricks.  Just  leave  it  to  me." 

At  this  point  Colonel  Loring  came  in,  and  when  he 
heard  Blake's  story  and  suggestions  he  said : 

"I  am  quite  willing  to  trust  Blake  in  this  matter.  I 
hope,  however,  that  his  confidence  in  himself  will  not 
lead  him  to  attempt  too  much  alone." 

"No,  colonel,"  said  Blake,  "if  I  find  that  help  is  needed 
I  have  your  authority  to  get  it,  and  djpend  on  me  to  do 
so.  I  can  tell  you  no  more  of  my  purpose,  or,  rather, 
of  what  I  propose  to  do,  for  it  may  be  modified  by  new 
conditions  at  any  moment." 

Blake  was  not  a  man  of  impulses,  yet  he  confessed  to 
his  friend  that  some  of  his  best  work,  when  chief  of 
police,  had  been  done  through  unpremeditated  acts. 
He  left  the  Hawaiian  Hotel,  and  so  absorbed  was  he 
in  what  was  uppermost  in  his  mind  that  he  gave  no  heed 
to  the  direction  he  was  taking  till  he  suddenly  started, 
like  one  waking  from  a  vivid  dream,  and  found  himself 
directly  in  "front  of  the  large  cottage,  a  part  of  which 
he  knew  to  be  occupied  by  Marguerite  Holmes. 

He  had  often  seen  and  admired  the  dainty  little  En 
glishwoman  on  the  streets ;  but,  as  their  lines  of  life  lay 
wide  apart,  he  had  never  spoken  to  her.  Acting  on  the 
sudden  impulse,  he  determined  to  do  so  now.  "If  no 
other  good  comes  of  it,"  he  reasoned,  as  he  made  his  way 
to  the  door,  "I  shall,  at  least,  be  able  to  tell  whether  it 
is  Featherstone  or  Kohala  who  is  the  favored  man." 

Clem,  looking  more  grim  and  prim  than  ever,  answered 
Blake's  ring,  and  in  reply  to  his  question  if  b,er  mistress 
was  in  she  asked,  snappishly : 

"Well,  what  if  she  is;  who'll  I  say  wants  to  see  her?" 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  181 

• 

"Lieutenant  Blake  of  the  Provisional  Army.  I  have 
no  card." 

The  title  had  a  soothing  effect  on  Clem,  for  she  unbent 
her  face,  if  not  her  form,  and  strode  rather  than  walked 
away,  leaving  Blake  outside  the  closed  door. 

Presently  she  came  back  and  said  : 

"Yes,  sir;  Mrs.  Holmes  is  in,  and  she'll  see  you." 

Blake  was  conducted  into  the  sitting-room,  and  he  was 
about  to  take  a  chair  when  Marguerite  entered,  looking 
very  pretty  and  very  pale,  and  with  such  an  expression 
of  helplessness  in  the  long-lashed  gray  eyes  as  aroused 
the  gallant  fellow's  sympathies  at  once. 

"Mr.  Blake,  I  believe;  I  am  Mrs. — Mrs.  Holmes,"  said 
Marguerite,  and  she  waved  him  back  to  the  chair  from 
which  he  had  risen. 

Blake  was  not  a  vain  man,  and  therefore  was  not  given 
to  pride  himself  on  anything;  but  if  he  had  been  in 
clined  to  boast  he  might,  with  truth,  have  laid  claims 
to  a  pretty  thorough  knowledge  of  what  the  world  calls 
"human  nature."  He  was  favorably  impressed  by  the 
slender  little  creature;  her  very  helplessness  appealing 
powerfully  to  his  confidence,  so  he  determined  at  once 
to  be  more  direct  than  he  ordinarily  would  have  been. 

"When  you  learn  my  mission,  Mrs.  Holmes,"  he  said, 
"I  am  sure  you  will  be  quite  ready  to  pardon  what  may 
seem  to  you  like  an  intrusion." 

"I  can  assure  you,"  she  said,  with  a  bow  and  a  sad 
little  smile,  "that  I  do  not  consider  your  presence  an 
intrusion." 

"Thanks.  Now  may  I  ask  if  you  know  Captain 
Featherstone  ? ' ' 

"Yes.     I  know  him,"  she  replied. 

"He  is  a  countryman  of  yours?" 

"Yes,  I  believe  he  is  English." 

"How  long  have  you  known  him?" 

"I  met  him  on  the  steamer,  the  Monowai,  coming  from 
San  Francisco  to  Honolulu.  Kohala  was  with  him." 
There  was  a  perceptible  tremor  in  Marguerite's  voice  as 
she  mentioned  the  dearly  loved  name. 

"Ah,  yes,  Kohala!"  exclaimed  Blake,  for  that  was  the 


182  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

subject  lievproposed  leading  up  to,  but  she  had  saved  him 
the  trouble. 

"Do  you  kno w  anything  of  him?  Tell  me!  Is  there 
any  news  of  him?" 

There  was  that  hi  the  woman's  voice  and  manner  that 
told  Blake  the  true  situation  quite  as  accurately  as  if  she 
had  taken  him  into  her  confidence  and  confessed  her 
love. 

"I  am  searching  for  Kohala  now,"  said  Blake,  de 
termined  to  come  to  the  point  at  once.  "You  want  to 
have  him  found?" 

"Oh,  God  only  knows  howl  do!"  she  cried,  and  she 
interlocked  her  fingers  and  compressed  her  lips  as  if  to 
keep  from  breaking  down. 

"You  can  help  me."  he  said. 

"I?" 

"Yes,  3rou.  madam,  if  you  will." 

"Then  tell  me  how  !  Command  me,  and  if  it  will  help 
Kohala  to  have  me  walk  the  island  on  my  hands  and 
knees  I  am  ready  to  do  it.  Why,  sir,  this  thing  has  been 
killing  me  ever  since  I  heard  of  it." 

"Mrs.  Holmes,  you  saw  Featherstone  late  last  night?" 

"I  did." 

"And  he  spoke  to  you  about  Kohala?" 

"He  did." 

"What  did  he  say?" 

"I — I  cannot  tell  you." 

'  'Why  not,  if  you  are  so  interested  in  the  missing  man  ?" 

"I  had  to  promise  that  I  would  not." 

' '  Featherstone  ? ' ' 

"Yes." 

"Then  you  do  know  where  Kohala  is?" 

"If  I  did  I  should  be  with  him.  It  is  by  keeping  the 
secret  that  I  can  see  him.  But  I  must  not  break  my 
pledge." 

"An  unwise  pledge  is  better  broken  than  kept.  But 
you  say  you  are  to  see  Kohala?" 

"That  is  promised  me." 

"And  when  is  the  promise  to  be  kept?" 

"To-night." 

"At  what  hour?'' 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  183 

"It  will  be  after  midnight." 

"And  the  man  comes  here?" 

"No;  I  meet  him." 

"Where?" 

"In  front  of  the  Mormon  Church." 

"Thanks.     Now  one  more  question,  Mrs.  Holmes." 

"You  can  ask  me  a  thousand.  Oh,  this  doubt  has  dis 
tracted  me!"  she  cried,  with  her  hands  pressed  to  her 
eyes. 

"You  do  not  admire  Featherstone,  then?" 

"No;  I  loathe  him." 

"And  yet  you  are  willing  to  intrust  yourself  to  his 
protection." 

"What  else  can  I  do?  I  shall  die  if  I  do  not  see  Ko- 
hala!"  And  in  her  excitement  she  rose  and  began  to 
pace  the  room. 

"I  think,"  said  Blake,  speaking  very  slowly,  as  was 
his  habit  when  he  came  to  a  conclusion,  "that  I  see 
through  the  situation  very  clearly.  When  you  are  with 
Featherstone  to-night — and  I  believe  it  will  help  if  you 
can  keep  the  appointment — I  shall  try  to  arrange  matters 
so  that  aid  will  not  be  far  off  if  you  need  it.  But  don't 
lose  heart.  When  things  are  at  their  worst,  they  say, 
they  begin  to  mend.  I  thank  you  for  this  interview,  and 
if  you  wouldn't  mind  making  another  pledge  I'd  like 
you  to  promise  me  that  you  won't  say  anything  to 
Featherstone  about  my  coming  here." 

"I  promise  that  from  my  heart;  and  I  shall  pray 
Heaven  to  prosper,  your  brave  efforts  for  me  and  mine," 
she  said,  as  she  gave  Blake  her  hand  when  he  rose  to  go. 

As  the  door  had  been  left  open  and  this  conversation 
was  carried  on  in  low  tones  Clem,  who  had  passed  and 
repassed  in  the  hope  of  being*  able  to  overhear  something 
that  might  be  sold  to  advantage,  was  grievously  disap 
pointed. 

Marguerite,  her  heart  greatly  relieved  by  Blake's  visit, 
for  there  was  that  in  the  manner  of  the  man  that  gave 
her  confidence,  went  to  her  own  room  and  lay  down. 

She  had  had  no  sleep  the  night  before.  How  could  she 
sleep  with  such  a  load  on  her  heart?  Featherstone 's 
promise  had  brought  her  no  comfort.  Indeed,  the  more  she 


184  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

thought  over  her  meeting  with  him  the  more  she  regret 
ted  the  impulse  that  led  her  to  agree  to  his  proposition. 
She  had  been  dreadmg  the  expedition  that  night,  not 
for  the  danger  there  might  be  in  it  to  herself,  for  she 
was  driven  to  recklessness,  but  for  the  sake  of  Kohala. 
The  more  she  reflected  the  stronger  became  her  convic 
tion  that  Featherstone  was  leading  her  into  a  trap.  But 
the  coming  of  Blake  had  given  strength  to  her  body  and 
hope  to  her  heart,  if  not  rest  to  her  mind,  so  that,  with 
out  any  idea  of  doing  so.  she  dozed  off,  and  was  sleeping 
when  Clem  called  her  to  dinner  six  hours  afterward. 

After  dinner  she  tried  to  read,  and  failing  in  that,  she 
took  up  her  sewing — she  always  had  some  handy — and 
she  kept  at  work  till  midnight. 

She  dressed  for  the  street,  putting  on  a  warm  wrap,  for 
the  damp  nights  of  the  Tropics  are  often  chilly,  and  then, 
after  extinguishing  the  boudoir  light — the  only  one  burn 
ing  in  the  cottage — she  went  noiselessly  out  to  the  street. 
Despite  the  comforting  thought  that  Blake  was  near  or 
watching  her,  her  heart  fluttered  so  as  she  hurried  on  in 
the  shadows  that  several  times  she  was  forced  to  stop  for 
breath. 

She  reached  the  appointed  place;  but,  to  her  relief. 
Featherstone  was  not  there.  She  looked  up  and  down 
the  street,  but  there  was  not  a  living  thing  in  sight- 
After  a  wait  of  ten  minutes,  that  seemed  like  as  many 
tedious  hours,  Marguerite  was  startled  by  a  step  behind 
her  and  the  loud  breathing  of  a  man  in  a  hurry. 

She  turned,  and  by  the  light  of  a  gas  lamp  some  dis 
tance  down  the  street  she  saw  the  figure  of  some  one 
v  near  her,  and  she  recognized  the  voice  of  the  man  she 
had  been  waiting  for. 

"Glad  to  see  you  ha ve- come,"  was  the  salutation. 
"Will  you  take  my  arm?  No?  Very  well,  my  lady ; 
you  may  do  better  without.  Now,  keep  close  to  me,  or 
we  may  get  parted  in  the  darkness." 

Although  far  from  strong,  Marguerite  had  the  endur 
ance  and  activity  of  far  more  robust  women.  His  pace 
was  quick  and  he  breathed  hard,  like  a  man  whose  lips 
were  set ;  but  she  kept  close  to  him,  neither  speaking  a 
word  as  they  hurried  along  the  unlit  alleys. 


KOHAtA  OF    HAWAII.  185 

At  length  they  got  beyond  the  city  lights  without  being 
disturbed.  About  a  mile  up  the  Nuuanu  Valley  road 
Featherstone  stopped  and  uttered  a  low  whistle.  It  was 
answered  by  a  whistle  near  by. 

He  whispered :  "There  is  a  carriage  at  hand." 

They  reached  it  and  got  in ;  but  the  carriage  did  not 
move.  The  hoarse  voices  of  men  were  heard  near  by 
and  the  clicking  of  rifles,  and  one  shouted  out : 

"Hold  up  there  till  we  examine  your  load." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

IN   THE  DARKEST   HOUR. 

MARGUERITE  heard  the  hoarse,  peremptory  challenge 
coming  from  the  darkness  without  any  feeling  of  alarm ; 
indeed,  it  gave  her  courage,  for  she  regarded  it  as  an  as 
surance  that  Blake  was  either  near  by,  or  else  that  the  men 
with  the  rifles  were  acting  under  his  orders.  This  re 
markable  man,  with  his  quiet,  earnest  ways,  his  keen 
eyes  and  his  power  to  read  the  thoughts  of  people — he  had 
certainly  read  hers — had  impressed  her  with  confidence 
in  his  ability  to  do  anything  he  undertook. 

Once  outside  th$  guards,  who  he  knew  watched  the 
principal  roads  leading  into  the  city,  Featherstone  felt 
that  he  would  be  safe,  for  he  had  run  the  gauntlet  with 
ease  when  there  was  more  need  for  vigilance  than  now. 
But  when  he  found  himself  halted  he  was,  for  the  |mo- 
ment,  so  staggered  that  he  could  make  no  response. 

Men  who  depend  for  success  on  cunning  need  to  have 
ready  wits.  At  heart  Featherstone  was  -a  coward,  but 
he  had  the  manner  that  is  apt  to  pass  for  pluck  with  the 
inexperienced. 

Coughing,  to  give  an  outlet  to  his  nervousness  rather 
than  to  clear  his  throat,  he  called  out,  peremptorily  : 

"Hello,  there  ! ,  Who  are  you?" 

"Friends  of  Hawaii,"  came  the  response. 

"Then  you  are  friends  of  mine,"  said  Featherstone, 
with  affected  joy. 


186  KOHAl^L  OF    HA  WAD. 

"What  is  your  name?"  from  the  darkness. 

-Captain  Paul  Featherstone,  late  of  the  English 
Army."" 

"And  Idie  lady  who  accompanies  you?" 

Mrs.— Mis.  Marguerite  Holmes,  also  English  by  birth." 

"And  Hawaiian  by  adoption,"  joined  in  the  little  wo 
man,  her  voice  strikingly  musical  in  contrast  with  the 
hoarse  tones  of  the  man. 

An  approving  laugh  came  from  the  darkness,  and  the 
sergeant  of  the  guard  asked: 

"Have  you  a  pass,  Captain  Feathe^tone?" 

"1  have  not;  I  did  not  know  one  was  needed.  I  am 
a  subject  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  England. ' ' 

"If  yon  were  Her  Majesty  herself  you  could  jiot  go  on 
without  a  pass." 

"'May  I  ask  why  not?" 

"Ton  may  ask  whatever  you  please.*" 

"Then  I  demand  to  know  why  I  am  detained?" 

*  I  am  obeying  orders.7" 

"From  whom?" 

"The  Provisional  Government.  Now,  sir,  let  me  ask 
where  you  are  going  this  early  morning  with  that  lady?" 

"To  the  Pali." 

"Ah.  that  is  a  dan-serous  place  in  the  daytime ;  it  is  a 
thousand  times  more  so  at  night/"  said  the  sergeant. 

"I  was  going  to  drive  slowly  on  ^pl  daylight.  Our 
purpose  is  to  see  the  sun  rise  from  the  cliffs." 

"Yes.  that  is  a  rare  fine  sight;  but  there  is  a  good  road 
up  there  and  with  your  team  you  can  make  die  trip  from 
here  in  half  an  hour.  I  shall  consult  with  the  captain  in 
charge  of  this  district,  and  if  he  thinks  it  well  to  have 
yon  go  on  I  shall  let  you  off;  but,  for  the  lady's  sake, 
not  till  I  can  see  daylight  on  the  crest  of  LanihulL  " 

Featherstone  choked  down  an  oath,  and  the  sergeant 
and  his  men  held  a  whispered  consultation,  and  some  of 
them  moved  off;  but  enough  remained  back  to  form  a 
post  about  the  carriage,  around  which  they  paced  with 
the  quiet  persistency  that  distinguishes  soldiers  on  guard. 
Marguerite,  though  ordinarily  impulsive  and  nervous, 
heard  all  this  without  a  tremor  of  alarm.  She  was  so 
weU  satisfied  wnh  the  situation  that  she  snuggled  down  in 


KOHALA  OF    HAW  AH.  IS? 

her  corner  with  her  shawl  wrapped  about  her.  and  was 
actually  dropping  off  into  a  doze  when  Featherstone 
bent  over  and  whispered : 

'Can  you  hear  mei" 

"I  can,"  she  responded. 

"Do  you  know  what  I  think?" 

''How  should  I  know':" 

"I  think  you  have  betrayed  me  !!>  he  hissed. 

"How  could  I : 

"By  arranging  with  these  TTIPTI  to  be  here." 

"I  did  not  know  you  were  coming  here.  You  did  not 
tell  me.  I  have  followed  out  your  instructions  to  the 
letter,  and  if  you  have  blundered  again  you  should  be 
man  enough  to  place  the  blame  where  it  belongs,"  said 
Marguerite,  with  a  force  that  surprised  him. 

Hitherto  he  had  regarded  her  as  a  sweet,  cunning, 
weak,  lovable  little  creature  whom  he  had  entirely 
under  his  control,  and  who  would  do  his  bidding  like 
a  trained  dog:  so  that  it  hurt  his  inordinate  vanity  to 
find  that  the  woman  he  had  been  regarding  as  his  tool 
had  set  his  authority  at  defiance  and  treated  his  assumed 
ry  with  contempt. 

He  had  been  playing  a  bold  game  for  large  stakes,  and 
he  had  shown  a  foresight  and  persistency  that  might 
have  been  regarded  as  able  in  a  more  commendable  line. 
But  now  that  he  saw  the  chances  for  wealth  vanishing  it 
was,  perhaps,  natural  that  hate  should  spring  from  the 
ruins  of  his  ambition  and  that  he  should  look  to  revenge 
as  the  one  thing  that  would  appease  his  suffering. 

nee  came  again,  but  it  brought  him  no  repose.  The 
tramping  of  the  soldiers  outside  maddened  him.  The 
quiet,  regular  breathing  of  that  amazing  little  creature 
in  the  corner,  who  must  actually  have  dropped  off  to 
sleep,  fell  upon  his  ears  with  all  the  torture  of  the 
filing  of  a  saw. 

He  turned  and  twisted  and  swore  under  his  breath,  all 
the  while  asking  himself  what  he  should  do  when  day 
light  came  and  lie  was  released.  He  could  not  well  re 
turn  to  the  city,  and  to  go  on  to  Pedro's  would  be  to 
commit  himself  for  the  abduction  of  Kohala.  He  had 
had  no  thought  of  going  to  the  Pali;  but  he  told  the 


188  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

guards  that  that  was  his  destination,  and  so  there  was 
nothing  left  him  but  to  keep  good  his  word. 

Marguerite  was  entirely  right  when  she  inferred  that 
Blake  was  the  man  who  held  the  carriage.  She  would 
have  known  his  quick,  keen  voice  had  he  spoken;  but 
as  he  did  not,  she  concluded  that  he  was  not  present; 
yet  he  was. 

After  seeing  that  the  carriage  was  properly  guarded 
Blake  hurried  back  some  distance  to  where  a  man  was 
holding  a  saddled  horse  by  the  roadside,  and,  after  ex 
changing  salutations,  he  mounted  and  rode  back  to 
Honolulu, 

He  called  at  headquarters  and  found  Colonel  Loring 
asleep  on  a  sofa  in  his  office.  He  woke  him  up  and  told 
him  what  he  had  done,  and,  as  to  what  he  proposed 
doing,  he  said : 

"I  am  going  to  drive  that  carriage  to  the  Pali." 

"But  Featherstone  will  recognize  you,"  said  the 
colonel. 

"No,  he  won't." 

"How  can  you  help  it?" 

"He  has  a  native  driver  now ;  I  know  the  man." 

"Well?" 

"I  shall  go  to  my  quarters  and  make  up  like  that 
native.  Trust  me  for  that — 

"But  how  can  I  help?" 

"Mount  twenty  or  thirty  men  as  soon  as  it  is  daylight 
and  send  them  in  all  haste -to  Pedro's." 

"To  Pedro's!"  exclaimed  Loring. 

"Pedro  Molino,  a  Portuguese.  He  lives  on  the  aban 
doned  Markham  place,  to  the  left  of  the  Nuuanu  Valley. " 

"I  remember.     The  fellow  is  a  rascal." 

"Yes,  colonel,  one  of  the  grandest  rascals  in  Hawaii, 
unless  it  may  be  Featherstone.  If  there  was  a  belt  given 
for  pure  cussedness  and  unadulterated  villainy  that  fellow 
would  be  entitled  to  one  as  big  in  girth  as  the  Equator." 

"And  the  woman,  Blake,  what  do  you  think  of  her?" 

"She's  a  daisy,  colonel — a  perfect  gem  of  a  woman." 

"What!"  laughed  Colonel  Loring,  "has  she  caught 
you, too?" 

"She  didn't  try  to.     By  Jinks!    like  Captain   Scott's 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  189 

coon,  I  came  down  and  surrendered  without  firing  a 
shot.  Any  man  hereafter  who  dares  to  say  a  word 
against  that  little  lady  in  my  presence  must  be  a  better 
man  than  me  or  he'll  find  himself  badly  licked." 

"I  shall  keep  that  in  mind,  Blake;  but  on  general 
principles  I  agree  with  you.  Confound  the  cur,  say  I, 
who  will  slander  a  defenseless  woman !  What,  are  you 
off?  Well,  good  luck  to  you,  Blake,  and  depend  on  me 
to  do  as  you  request." 

Colonel  Loring  rose,  gave  Blake  a  hearty  handshake 
and  saw  him  to  the  door. 

When  Blake  got  back  to  the  carriage,  which  he  did  in 
the  perfect  disguise  of  a  native,  the  first  tints  of  the  com 
ing  day  were  lighting  up  the  stern,  rocky  head  of  Kona- 
huanui,  to  the  east  of  the  Pali  cliffs. 

Without  attracting  Featherstone's  notice,  Blake,  after 
having  made  himself  known  to  his  companions,  who, 
though  expecting  the  change,  were  amazed  at  its  com 
pleteness,  succeeded  in  removing  the  driver  and  in  taking 
his  place. 

"Coming  to  the  carriage  door,  the  sergeant  called  in: 

"Captain  Featherstone,  I  have  just  received  orders  from 
the  officer  of  the  post  to  release  you.  Day  is  dawning, 
and  if  you  hurry  up  you  will  be  in  plenty  of  time  to 
catch,  from  the  Pali,  the  sun  coming  up  out  of  the  sea." 

Featherstone  was  in  no  mood  to  be  grateful  for  his  re 
lease;  indeed,  the  soldier's  words  seemed  to  have  on 
him  a  maddening  effect,  for  he  put  his  head  out  of  the 
door  and  shouted  to  the  man  on  the  box : 

"Drive  on  !     Do  you  hear  me  !     Drive  on  !" 

"Where;  to  Pedro's?"  came  back  the  question  in 
native  accents. 

"No,  curse  you!    To  the  Pali!     Don't  you  hear  me?" 

"Oh,  I  hear,"  was  the  quiet  response. 

"Then  go." 

"All  right." 

The  whip  cracked  and  the  sleeping  horses  shook  them 
selves  and  started  off,  a  little  stiffly  at  first,  but  soon  they 
limbered  into  a  smart  trot.  • 

Marguerite  heard  all  this,  but  still  pretended  to  be 
asleep.  As  the  carriage  ^wayed  and  turned  in  the  ascent 


190  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

of  the  beautiful  valley  she  caught  frequent  glimpses  of 
the  coming  day  on  the  crest  of  the  steep  volcanic  hills 
to  the  right  and  left. 

Her  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  was  intense.  The 
glory  of  that  Tropic  morning  so  inspired  her  during  the 
transformation  from  inky  blackness  to  golden  blaze  of 
the  sun  on  the  mountain-tops  that  she  forgot  her  troubles 
and  her  position. 

Up  through  the  sweet  home-land  of  fair  Koolau,  up 
past  the  palm-thatched  huts  of  the  natives,  up  through 
the  jungles  of  lantana  covering  the  volcanic  rocks  the 
carriage  rolled. 

The  man  on  the  box,  cheered  no  doubt  by  the  glory  of 
the  scene,  broke  into  a  native  song ;  but  he  had  not  fin 
ished  the  first  verse  before  Featherstone,  at  some  risk  to 
himself,  put  out  his  head  and  shouted  : 

"Confound  you  !  stop  that  noise." 

"I  make  no  noise;  I  sing,"  said  the  driver,  and,  to 
prove  it,  he  went  on  with  greater  force,  keeping  time 
to  the  measure  by  cracking  his  long  whip  and  stamping 
with  his  boots  on  the  dashboard. 

Marguerite  heard  all  this,  and  had  it  been  light  enough 
Featherstone  might  have  seen  a  roguish  gleam  in  the 
long-lashed  eyes  and  a  smile  playing  about  the  sweet 
little  rnouth.  What  was  torture  to  him  she  saw  the 
ludicrous  side  of  and  heartily  enjoyed. 

They  were  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  their  des 
tination,  the  Pali  Cliff,  over  which  King  Kamehameha 
drove  the  last  of  his  opponents  into  the  sea,  when 
Featherstone  called  to  the  driver  to  stop,  which  was 
promptly  done. 

"We  must  get  out  here,  madam,  and  walk  on."  said 
Featherstone. 

He  sprang  out,  and  extended  his  hands  to  help  her : 
but  she  ignored  his  proffer  of  assistance  and  descended 
as  lightly  as  if  she  were  not  stiff  in  every  limb. 

"Drive  down  the  hill  for  a  mile  or  so,"  said  Feather- 
stone  to  the  man,  who  had  descended  from  the  box. 

"Wait  long,  sa?"  asked  the  man. 

"I  don't  know.     Do  as  you  are  told."    Then,  in  the 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  191 

same  harsh  voice,  Featherstone  turned  to  Marguerite 
and  asked:  "Can  you  make  out  without  help?" 

"I  shall  try  to,"  she  said,  and  as  she  could  now  see  the 
road  leading  up  to  the  top  of  the  Pali,  she  sprang  ahead. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

WHAT  MIGHT   HAVE   BEEN  EXPECTED. 

ALTHOUGH  gentle  and  unsuspecting  in  his  nature,  and 
more  ready  to  believe  in  the  good  in  men  than  to  suspect 
the  wrong,  Kohala,  after  that  midnight  meeting  with 
Featherstone,  saw  into  and  through  the  fellow's  character 
more  clearly  than  if  the  wretch  had  made  a  confession  in 
the  presence  of  death. 

He  not  only  saw  why  Featherstone  had  clung  to  him 
abroad  and  followed  him  to  Hawaii,  but  he  inferred, 
with  amazing  accuracy,  the  part  which  the  man  had 
planned  for  Marguerite  to  act  in  the  furtherance  of  his 
own  schemes. 

When  he  first  heard  Colonel  Ellis 's  story — a  story  that 
reflected  on  Marguerite's  honesty  and  fealty — love,  jeal 
ous  in  proportion  to  its  strength,  maddened  him,  and  he 
felt  doubt  of  her  in  his  heart,  but  he  had  too  much  pride 
to  confess  that  doubt  to  his  friend. 

But  when  he  recalled  that  she  had  given  to  him  the 
best  evidence  of  her  love,  that  in  the  few  whispered 
words  they  had  apart  after  the  marriage  ceremony  she 
warned  him  against  the  very  dangers  that  now  en 
vironed  him,  doubt  gave  way  to  a  faith  that  filled  him 
and  thrilled  him  with  confidence,  and  with  a  determina 
tion  as  to  his  own  course  of  action,  from  which  he  had 
not  and  would  not  vary  till  death  wrote  "finis"  to  the 
close  of  the  story  of  his  own  life. 

He  now  saw  why  he  had  been  brought  here,  and, 
while  he  was  too  loyal  to  the  men  of  his  own  race  to 
believe  that  they  would  scheme  for  his  capture  to  aid 
the  enterprise  of  Featherstone,  he  believed  that  Pedro 
and  the  captain  had  played  upon  their  patriotism  and 
made  them  their  tools  to  gain  their  own  ends. 


192  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

Further,  lie  realized — and  the  truth  came  to  him  like 
a  blow  from  a  giant — that  if  Featherstone  did  not  clearly 
see  the  way  to  success  he  would  not  hesitate  to  put  that 
witness  out  of  the  way  in  order  to  save  himself  and  to 
silence  the  one  witness  whose  evidence  would  crush  him. 

All  this  flashed  through  Kohala's  mind  as  he  stood  by 
the  open  window  looking  out  into  the  impenetrable 
darkness  where  he  knew  that  guards  were  watching 
to  prevent  his  escape. 

A  high  wind  whistled  through  the  plumy  tops  of  the 
palms  and  swayed  the  hissing  undergrowth  with  a 
sound  like  the  dashing  of  the  sea  against  the  sides  of 
a  moving  ship. 

This  noise  was  favorable  to  the  venture  on  which  he 
hastily  decided.  He  took  off  his  boots,  tied  them  together 
with  a  handkerchief  and  fastened  them  about  his  neck. 

The  fact  that  he  had  110  arms  intensified  his  caution. 
The  window  opened  on  a  piazza,  and  it  was  only  a  short 
step  from  there  to  the  ground.  During  the  day  he  had 
seen  enough  of  the  outside  to  give  him  some  idea  of 
direction  and  of  the  immediate  obstacles  he  might  have 
to  encounter. 

As  it  was  so  dark  that  he  could  not  see  the  fingers 
of  his  hand  held  close  to  his  face,  Kohala  did  not  at 
tempt  to  creep,  but,  standing  erect  and  moving  as  si 
lently  as  a  cat  approaching  its  prey,  he  passed  through 
the  window  and  out  to  the  junglelike  garden. 

Glancing  back,  he  saw  the  light  in  the  room  where 
Pedro  arid  his  friends  were  drinking  and  consulting,  and 
this  gave  him  a  guide  by  which  he  could  direct  his  course. 
Before  moving  again  he  put  on  his  boots. 

Every  few  seconds  he  stopped  and  bent  to  listen,  and 
till  he  grew  familiar  with  the  sound  of  the  wind  away  up 
in  the  palms  it  seemed  so  much  like  the  hoarse  whisper 
ing  of  angered  men  that  he  could  hear  and  feel  the 
thumping  of  his  own  heart. 

As  he  went  on,  with  many  a  backward  glance,  the  light 
in  the  window  grew  dimmer  and  dimmer,  till  it  finally 
faded  out,  and  then  he  felt  lost  amid  the  tangle  of  lantana 
and  the  walls  of  prickly  cactus  that  seemed  to  rise  up  be 
fore  him  on  every  hand. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.    .  193 

There  is  nothing  so  uncertain  as  the  direction  from 
which  a  sound  coines  in  the  dark,  unless  one  is  expecting 
it  from  a  certain  quarter.  Over  the  whispering  and  hiss 
ing  of  the  wind  Kohala  heard  the  barking  of  a  number 
of  curs.  He  knew  they  were  near  the  house,  but  what 
direction  that  was  in  he  could  not  tell. 

While  he  was  halted  and  listening  he  was  startled  at 
hearing,  close  by — so  close,  indeed,  that  it  seemed  he 
could  smell  the  smoke-tainted  breath  of  the  speakers — 
two  men  in  conversation.  The  first  words  that  came 
to  Kohala 's  ears  were  : 

"Those  fellows  in  there" — no  doubt  meaning  Pedro  and 
his  friends — "are  playing  for  big  stakes;  they'll  make  a 
fortune  out  of  this,  while  we  must  be  content  with  two 
dollars  a  day,  ten  cheroots  and  a  pint  of  whisky." 

"Well,  don't  kick,  Sanchez;  that  is  more  than  we 
were  making  before  we  took  the  job.  My  only  fear  is 
that  it  won't  last  long.  Ah,  if  I  had  a  good  long  head  on 
me  our  positions  would  be  changed,  and  Pedro  would 
be  guarding  and  I'd  be  planning  to  reap  the  harvest  of 
gold.  But  I  have  an  idea,  friend  Sanchez. ' ' 

"You  have?" 

"Yes." 

"Doesn't  it  astonish  you,  Tom?" 

"I  don't  know.     Why  do  you  ask?" 

"Well,  an  idea  with  you  is  so  odd  But  let  us  hear  it 
before  it  goes." 

"It  is  this,  Sanchez — now  you're  got  some  sense." 

"Is  that  the  idea?" 

"No,  for  you  might  have  twice  as  much  without  being 
in  danger  of  brain  fever.  But  you  know  that  every 
thing's  upside  down  in  Hawaii  at  this  time?" 

"Everything but  the  Americans,  Tom;  they're  up,  and 
it  strikes  me  they're  going  to  stay  up." 

"Maybe;  but  you'll  agree  that  they'd  like  to  find  the 
man  we  are  guarding  for  two  dollars  a  day,  not  to  men 
tion  the  cheroots  and  whisky." 

"Yes,  Tom,  there  is  no  doubt  about  that." 

"And  don't  you  think  Colonel  Loring  would  pay  big 
to  find  him?" 

"I  am  sure  of  it." 


194  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Then,  Sanchez,  you  can  see  my  idea." 

"Yes,  but  it's  a  bit  foggy." 

"Then  I'll  make  it  clearer." 

"I  wish  you  would." 

"Let  us  carry  off  Kohala  before  daybreak." 

"Whereto?" 

"Away  from  here  to  a  point  where  one  of  us  can  guard 
him  while  the  other  one  goes  into  Honolulu  and  sells  his 
information  and  agrees  to  lead  the  soldiers  to  the  man 
they  want.  There  is  a  lot  of  money  in  that,  and  then  it 
would  save  us  from  the  trouble  that  is  bound  rto  come 
when  Featherstone  is  hunted  down,  as  he  is  sure  to  be. 
What  do  you  think  of  the  scheme,  Sanchez?" 

"Think,  Tom?  Why,  I  think  you're  what  they  call  a 
genius,  and  I  am  in  with  you.  Let.  us  get  closer  to  the 
house ;  it  will  soon  be  daylight  and  there  is  no  time  to 
lose." 

The  two  men  passed  so  close  to  Kohala  that  the  arm  of 
one  actually  brushed  against  him,  and  it  was  not  till  they 
had  gone  some  distance,  in  what  he  now  believed  to  be 
the  direction  from  which  the  barking  came,  that  he 
ventured  to  move  on  again. 

"If  they  go  back  to  examine  my  room,"  reasoned  Ko 
hala,  "they  will  soon  discover  my  absence,  and  then,  as 
they  cannot  carry  out  their  plan,  they  will  try  to  get 
credit  for  discovering  my  flight  and  will  give  the  alarm. ' ' 

He  pushed  on  with  more  speed,  and  had  just  reached 
an  open  space  that  he  th'ought  must  be  a  road  or  a  cleared 
field  when  he  heard  a  series  of  appalling  yells  behind 
him,  accompanied  by  the  increased  barking  of  the  dogs 
and  the  discharge  of  firearms. 

This  startled  him,  but  it  did  not  lessen  his  presence  of 
mind. 

He  knew  that  the  uproar  was  intended  to  intimidate 
him  if  he  were  within  hearing.  This  supposition  was  soon 
verified. 

Above  the  clamor  he  heard  Pedro's  voice  calling  out : 

"•We  see  you  !  Come,  there's  no  use  trying  to  fool  us  ! 
We  don't  want  to  harm  you,  but  if  you  don't  come  back 
we'll  kill  you !  Do  you  hear?" 

If  Pedro  expected  a  reply  to  this,  he  was  disappointed. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  195 

Again  the  shouting  burst  out;  the  flash  of  a  lantern 
could  be  seen  in  the  direction  of  the  men,  and  the  crash 
ing  noise  of  their  tearing  through  the  jungle  drowned 
out  the  wind  in  the  palms. 

The  lantern,  without  which  Pedro  could  have  made  no 
headway,  promised  to  be  Kohala's  salvation,  for  while  it 
could  not  light  up  a  path  to  liberty  for  himself,  like  the 
lighthouse  beacon  to  the  storm-tossed  mariner,  it  indi 
cated  the  place  that  was  to  be  avoided. 

The  fugitive  could  only  hold  himself  back  by  a  strong 
effort  of  will.  The  impulse,  as  is  ever  the  case,  was  to  fly 
with  all  speed  from  the  pursuing  danger;  but  to  have 
done  this  blindly  would  have  been  to  exhaust  himself  be 
fore  the  time  for  the  supreme  effort  came;  and  delib 
erately  to  control  himself  by  such  reasoning  under  such 
circumstances  indicated  a  self-command  of  no  ordinary 
order. 

The  open  space  reached  by  Kohala  proved  to  be  a  road, 
and  not  a  very  good  one  at  that ;  but  whither  it  led  he 
did  not  ask  himself  so  long  as  it  led  him  away  from  the 
men  who  were  determined  to  recapture  him,  dead  or  alive, 

As  he  ran  on,  reeling  now  and  then  into  the  lantana 
jungle  on  either  hand,  he  stumbled  over  something  and 
fell.  In  rising,  his  hand  came  into  contact  with  a  piece 
of  wood  that  felt  like  a  wagon-spoke,  and  without  any 
reason  at  the  moment  he  clung  to  it. 

After  this  he  had  not  proceeded  more  than  a  hundred 
yards  when  he  heard  the  baying  of  a  bloodhound— he  had 
heard  the  deep,  bell-like  cry  before  and  knew  what  it 
meant. 

The1  animal  seemed  to  be  at  his  heels,  and  as  he  stopped 
to  listen  he  caught  the  pounding  of  hoofs,  showing  that 
at  least  one  of  his  pursuers  was  mounted,  and  he  saw  the 
swaying  of  the  lantern. 

Again  Kohala's  presence  of  mind— and  he  needed  it  at 
this  juncture — did  him  good  service.  Under  such  cir 
cumstances  the  thoughts  move  with  the  rapidity  of  light 
ning  and  the  reasoning,  having  in  it  the  element  of  in 
stinctive  self-preservation,  is  usually  right.  If  he  ran  till 
the  dog  came  up  his  powers  of  resistance  and  defense 
would  be  lessened.  •  He  realized  this  and  forced  himself 


196  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

down  to  a  quick  walk,  while  momentarily  the  baying  of 
the  hound  came  nearer  and  nearer. 

Now  the  value  of  his  find  reconciled  him  to  his  fall, 
and  he  came  to  regard  it  as  Providential.  As  the  hound 
seemed  to  be  right  at  his  heels  he  halted  and  grasped  his 
club  with  a  feeling  of  intense  satisfaction. 

He  could  not  see,  but  the  baying  suddenly  stopped,  and 
he  felt  the  dirt  thrown  on  his  feet  as  the  creature  came 
to  a  halt. 

Setting  his  teeth  and  striking  with  all  his  might,  in  the 
darkness,  to  be  sure,  yet  with  the  almost  certain  feeling 
that  he  was  going  to  hit  something,  Kohala  brought 
down  the  club. 

He  felt  it  crashing  into  a  pliant  body.  He  heard  a 
gurgling  groan,  and  he  reasoned  that  for  the  present,  at 
least,  there  was  no  danger  in  that  particular  dog. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  the  rider  with  the  swing 
ing  lantern  was  coming  on  at  a  gallop  and  at  this  time 
was  not  more  than  fifty  yards  away. 

Now  the  fugitive  put  forth  all  his  speed  and  shot  ahead, 
all  the  quicker  for  the  slope  of  the  ground  which  fell 
away  in  the  advance. 

He  did  not  see  Pedro's  horse  suddenly  stopping  and 
nearly  unseating  his  rider  as  he  came  upon  the  huge  dog 
dying  in  the  road ;  but  he  did  hear  the  crack  of  a  rifle 
and  the  whizz  of  a  bullet  and  the  torrent  of  fierce  impre 
cations  which  the  now  maddened  and  alarmed  horseman 
sent  after  him. 

Kohala  must  have  run  fully  a  mile  before  he  came  to 
a  halt.  Then  the  sounds  behind  had  died  out  and  the 
wind  had  sunk  to  rest,  or  else  there  were  no  palms  to  be 
whispered  to. 

As  he  stood  trying  to  peer  through  the  darkness  he 
saw  before  him,  and  seemingly  high  up  in  the  heavens, 
an  opal  glow  on  the  rugged  mountain  crests  above  the 
Pali. 

He  waited  for  some  minutes,  the  hope  in  his  heart  in 
creasing  as  the  light  of  another  day  came  creeping  down 
the  mountains,  driving  the  darkness  and  the  mists  be 
fore  it. 

Soon  he  began  to  recognize  the 'hills;    and  not  Tell, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  197 

when  he  escaped  from  an  Austrian  dungeon  and  found 
himself  a  free  man  amid  the  surrounding  peaks  and 
crags  of  his  native  Alps,  felt  the  thrill  that  came  to  the 
heart  of  the  young  Hawaiian  and  sent  the  blood  cours 
ing  joyously  through  his  veins  as  he  recognized  the  land 
marks  and  mountain  monuments  above  the  historic  cliffs 
of  the  Pali. 

Lower  and  lower  down  the  slopes  came  the  light,  re 
vealing  the  outlines  of  the  palms  and  bringing  to  view 
the.nestlike  huts  of  the  natives. 

Koliala  hurried  on,  but  still  kept  an  eager  lookout  in 
every  direction.  At  length  he  reached  the  Pali  road,  riot 
twenty  minutes'  walk  from  the  precipice. 

While  seated  on  a  rock,  resting  and  thinking,  he  heard, 
not  far  away,  a  native  love-song,  accompanied  by  the 
tramping  of  horses,  the  rolling  of  wheels  and  the  crack 
ing  of  a  whip. 

He  recalled  that  it  was  not  unusual  for  lovers  of  the 
sublime  and  beautiful — who  were  principally  tourists— 
to  come  out  to  the  Pali  before  day  in  order  to  see  the 
great  red  disk  of  the  sun  lifting  out  of  the  eastern  ocean 
and  turning  the  turquoise  waters  to  liquid  flame.  But 
who  in  troubled  Honolulu  at  this  time  could  give  thought 
to  the  romantic  ? 

The  panting  horses  came  laboring  up,  and  when  the 
aim  outline  of  a  covered  carriage  came  to  view  a  hun 
dred  yards  below,  Kohala  drew  back  into  the  lantana 
jungle  and  "waited. 

The  carriage  stopped  before  it  got  abreast  of  where  he 
was  and  he  heard  voices ;  one  was  unmistakably  that  of 
Featherstone  and  the  other  was  a  woman's,  and  though 
he  could  not  recognize  it,  it  i  Drilled  him  and  set  his  heart 
a-nutteriiig,  for  he  could  not  see  or  think  of  a  woman 
without  ^having  the  idol  in  his  heart  leap  up  to  his  brain 
in  the  form  of  Marguerite. 

He  heard  the  carriage  turning  below,  then  the  fall  of 
feet  and  the  sou  ad  of  voices  came  nearer. 

He  parted  the  jungle  and  looked  out ;  and  his  heart 
stopped  beating  for  the  moment  as  he  saw  his  wife  walk 
ing  up  to  the  cliff — walking  up,  clearly  of  her  own  voli- 


198  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

tion,  to  the  Pali,  beside  the  man  whom  he  knew  to  be 
an  adventurer  and  a  traitor. 

Forgetting  for  the  time  where  and  what  he  was,  the 
fires  of  jealousy  blazed  up  in  the  young  man's  breast  and 
he  lecalled  what  Colonel  Ellis  had  told  him  in  Hawaii. 

That  Featherstone  should  betray  him  was  shocking, 
but  he  had  never  considered  it  among  the  impossibilities ; 
but  that  the  woman  he  had  so  worshiped  should  demon 
strate  her  perfidy  before  his  eyes  was  something  so 
terrible  that,  as  he  realized  it,  he  was  stunned  almost 
into  insensibility. 

They  passed  on,  and  then  the  reaction  set  in.  The  hot 
blood  flamed  from  the  young  man's  heart  to  his  eyes  till 
he  looked  like  one  of  his  own  savage  ancestors  on  the 
warpath.  Choking  down  a  cry  of  hate  and  rage  he 
clutched  his  club,  and,  with  the  stealthy  step  of  a  tiger, 
followed  his  wife  and  Featherstone  up  to  the  Pali  preci 
pice. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

ON     THE      PALI   .  CLIFFS. 

IT  was  a  morning  such  as  is  never  seen  out  of  Hawaii, 
and  not  often  there.  » 

The  valleys  stretching  away  to  Honolulu  were  veiled 
in  a  silvery  mist,  above  which  the  fronded  palms  showed 
their  heads  like  ships  becalmed  at  sea. 

A  cloud  in  the  upper  sky  looked  to  be  changing  from 
a  warm  opal  to  an  intense  golden  flame,  and  it  needed  no 
stretch  of  the  imagination  r  make  it  the  sconce  of  the 
soft,  warm  illumination  failing  like  a  holy  halo  on  the 
emerald  land. 

The  mountains  looked  like  masses  of  amethyst,  tipped 
on  their  higher  crests — which  had  already  caught  the 
sun — with  giant  points  of  amber  and  ruby  that  seemed  to 
be  self-luminous. 

The  air  was  still  asleep,  and  through  it  floated  birds 
and  butterflies,  the  flash  of  their  wings  suggesting  the 
opening  and  closing  of  animated  blossoms. 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  199 

If  she  knew  that  she  were  walking  to  death — and  she 
was  far  from  feeling  that  such  was  not  now  the  case — 
Marguerite,  with  her  keen  sensibilities  and  poetic  soul, 
could  not  have  remained  indifferent  to  the  indescribable 
beauty  and  undreamed-of  sublimity  of  her  surroundings. 

As  she  went  on  she  could  hear  the  fall  of  the  breakers 
coming  up,  as  it  seemed  to  her,  from  the  foundations  of 
the  volcanic  hills  like  the  measured  beat— the  rhythmic 
throbbing  of  the  island's  heart. 

"If  Kohala  were  only  here,  then  death  in  such  a  place 
and  at  such  a  time  could  have  no  horrors."  This  she 
thought,  as  she,  with  daintier,  airier  step,  went  ahead  of 
her  panting,  purple-faced  companion. 

Marguerite  had  been  to  the  Pali  before  and  with  this 
same  man,  but  it  did  not  look  like  the  same  place.  A 
glorious  landscape,  like  an  expressive  face,  has  its  .moods 
and  phases  and  its  varying  lights  that  give  it  a  changing 
and  ever-increasing  beauty.  Such  a  face  and  such  a 
scene  never  pall,  never  weary  the  beholder  with  the  op 
pression  of  soulless  monotony. 

At  length  she  reached  the  crest  of  the  cliff  and  drew 
back  with  a  suppressed  cry  of  alarm,  for  there  yawned 
at  her  feet  the  awf ul  precipice  of  the  Pali,  with  the  white 
breakers  gleaming  a  thousand  feet  below  like  the  flash  of 
a  cruel  monster's  teeth. 

"Are  you  frightened?"  asked  Featherstone,  with  a 
mocking  laugh,  as  he  sat  down  on  a  red  rock  that  looked 
as  if  it  had  been  stained  by  the  blood  of  the  great  kings 
slain. 

"No,"  she  managed  to  say,  but  she  did  not  look  at  him. 
She  stepped  back  with  her  gloved  hand  pressed  to  her 
eyes,  as  if  to  shut  out  the  appalling  abyss  at  her  feet. 

Strange  that  we  can  look  up  into  the  profound  depths 
of  space  with  no  feeling  of  horror  and  that  from  the  land 
we  can  look  out  on  the  destroying,  all-devouring  sea 
with  no  feeling  of  dread,  while  the  nerves  are  unstrung 
by  a  glance  from  an  upper  window. 

With  the  precipice  out  of  sight,  Marguerite  ventured  to 
look  out  and  beyond.  The  east  was  all  aflame,  and  the 
crescent  of  the  rising  sun,  blood-red  and  burning,  was 
rising  over  the  far-off  rim  of  the  heaving  ocean. 


200  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

The  circle  of  the  barrier  reef  was  visible,  rolling  likfe 
pearl  mountains  in  whose  liquid  arms  a  thousand  tangled 
rainbows  had  been  caught  and  intermingled. 

So  entranced  was  Marguerite  with  the  transcendent 
glory  of  the  scene  spread  out  before  her  that  she  forgot 
everything  but  Kohala.  His  presence  was  the  one  thing 
needed  to  fill  to  overflow  the  chalice  of  her  elevated  and 
soulful  rapture. 

From  the  splendor  of  this  waking  dream  she  was 
aroused  by  the  voice  of  Featherstone  breaking  in  like  a 
torturing  discord  on  the  entrancing  flow  of  an  exquisite 
harmony,  and  saying : 

"You  seem  to  enjoy  it." 

He  rose  from  the  rock,  pushed  his  handkerchief  into 
his  pocket,  as  if  he  were  provoked  at  it,  and  came  and 
stood  near  her. 

Before  replying  Marguerite  turned  and  stepped  back, 
with  an  instinctive  desire  to  be  out  of  his  reach,  and  it 
may  be,  for  the  purpose  of  watching  his  face,  in  which 
she  saw  nothing  reassuring. 

"I  have  been  enjoying  it,"  she  said. 

"And  I  have  spoiled  the  pleasure ;  is  that  it?" 

He  stooped  and  tried  to  look  into  her  eyes ;  but  without 
showing  her  dread — a  dread  increased  by  the  proximity 
of  that  awful  cliff — she  avoided  his  gaze,  and  responded : 

"You  have  brought  me  here,  Captain  Featherstone, 
now  tell  me  your  purpose." 

"Oh,  I  shall  do  that.  But  first,  let  me  ask :  Did  you  not 
think  I  was  going  to  take  you  to  Kohala?" 

"I  did;  but  I  now  see  the  folly  and  weakness  of  my 
credulity,  for  you  evidently  had  no  such  purpose  in 
mind. ' ' 

"Yet,  madam,  I  assure  you  I  had." 

"Then  why  did  you  not  carry  it  out?" 

"Do  you  not  know?" 

"I  do  not." 

"Then  let  me  say  I  have  been  crediting  you  with  more 
shrewdness  than  you  seem  to  possess." 

"I  shall  not  ask  why  you  have  come  to  that  conclu 
sion." 

"If  you  did  I  should  tell  you  that  you  should  have  seen 


KOHAT.A   OF    HAWAII.  201 

that  those  dogs  of  guards — curse  them !  I  wish  I  could 
see  every  man  of  them  tumbling  over  the  Pali — inter 
fered  with  my  plans.  I  could  not  go  to  Kohala  without 
letting  them  know  his  whereabouts.  Do  you  understand 
that?"  he  sneered. 

"I  understand  what  you  sa^y." 

"And  I  say  what  I  mean." 

"Then  I  must  infer  that  you  and  your  associate  con 
spirators  hold  Kohala  prisoner  at  some  point  not  far  from 
where  we  are?" 

"I  have  not  said  that ;  but  I  will  say  that  the  man  you 
call  your  husband  is  in  danger  of  death — 

"Of  death!"  she  cried. 

"Ay,  of  death;  and  it  will  come  swift  and  inexorable 
before  another  sun  rises  if  you  do  not  interfere  to  save 
him." 

"If  I  do  not  interfere  to  save  him?"  she  repeated. 
"Why,  man,  I  am  ready  to  die/to  save  Kohala  not  only 
from  death,  but  from  suffering !  For  God's  sake,  take 
me  to  him  at  once ! ' '  and  she  clasped  her  hands  and 
reached  them  out  appealingly  to  him. 

"Have  a  little  patience — 

"Bui  you  torture  me  !     Is  it  manly  to  do  this?" 

"Torture  you!  Torture  you!  Look  at  me,  woman!" 
H^  drew  himself  up  and  smote  his  breast  in  a  way  that 
would  have  been  mock  heroic  under  any  other  circum 
stances,  but  which  seemed  tragic  there.  "Do  you  give 
thought  to  the  torture  you  have  brought  to  me?" 

"If  I  have  given  you  pain,  pardon,  for  Heaven  knows 
I  never  meant  it ;  and  it  is  the  spirit  of  justice  to  measure 
the  act  by  the  motive  that  inspires  it." 

"Once  your  pleading  would  have  been  all-potent  with 
me,  for  I  loved  you,  and,  loving  you,  I  trusted  you  and 
believed  in  you  as  I  never  believed  in  a  human  being  be 
fore.  But  you  have  betrayed  me  and  shattered  all  the 
plans  I  had  made  for  your  happiness."  He  paused,  bit 
his  lip  as  if  debating  a  second  thought,  and  added: 
"But  if  you  choose  to  do  right,  choose  what  you  led  me 
to  believe  you  would  do,  it  is  not  too  late." 

"I  may  have  seemed  to  lend  myself  to  your  schemes," 
she  said,  a  becoming  flush  rising  to  her  usually  pale 


202  KOHALA  OF    HAWAII. 

cheeks  and  a  brave  light  coming  into  the  long-lashed 
gray  eyes,  "yet  it  was  that  I  might  the  better  understand 
you.  I  have  never  laid  claims  to  a  masculine  intellect, 
yet  I  would  have  been  ah  irresponsible  and  unreasoning 
idiot  if  I  had  closed  my  eyes  to  your  purpose  when  you 
coaxed  me  to  pretend  love'for  Kohala  after  you  had  al 
ready  asked  me  to  be  your  wife." 

"And  you  agreed  to  be  my  wife !"  he  interrupted. 

"So  I  did.  At  that  time  I  was  poor  and  alone  in  the 
world,  and  although  I  knew  that  I  did  not  and  could  not 
love  you,  yet  I  believed  you  to  be  a  soldier  and  a  gentle 
man  whom  I  could,  at  least,  respect.  But  I  was  not  long 
in  learning  your  true  character,  nor  long  in  discovering 
that  I  could  return  Kohala '3  love.  Then,  for  his  sake,  I 
acted  my  part ;  but  from  first  to  last  I  defy  you  or  any 
one  to  say  that  I  have  done  aught  that  any  true  woman 
would  not  have  done  under  the  same  circumstances." 

"Yes,  you  thought  by  throwing  me  over  and  marry 
ing  this  gilded  savage  that  you  might  become  the  queen 
consort  of  the  King  of  Hawaii.  Oh,  I  understand  you," 
said  Featherstone,  with  a  mocking  laugh. 

"If  I  had  had  any  such  ambition  then  I  must  have 
doubted  all  your  statements  and  among  them  your  pro 
fessions  of  love — the  latter  I  never  believed  in,  for  I  saw 
you  wanted  to  use  me  simply  as  a  tool  for  the  further 
ance  of  your  mercenary  designs.  You  told  me  that  if 
Kohala  married  a  white  woman  the  natives  would  not 
only  refuse  to  make  him  their  king,  but  that  they  might 
seek  his  life.  He  did  not  want  to  be  king ;  but  he  did 
love  me  and  I  loved  him,  and  the  world  is  wide  enough 
for  our  love  to  live  in  beyond  the  shores  of  Hawaii,"  and 
she  waved  her  hand  to  the  east,  from  which  came  over 
the  flashing  waters  the  rising  sea  breeze. 

Featherstone  surveyed  the  slender  figure  with  a  look 
of  unutterable  hate  in  his  bloodshot  eyes.  His  fingers 
closed  and  opened  with  a  murderous  expression,  and  an 
onlooker  would  have  said  that  it  was  to  keep  from  seiz 
ing  her  at  once  and  hurling  her  over  the  cliffs  that  he 
turned  and  walked  down  the  slope  for  twenty  yards, 
then  came  slowly  back. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  as  he  came  and  stood  before  her  again, 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  203 

"you  have  played  a  strong  hand  and  won  the  odd  trick. 
Bat  it  will  do  you  no  good.  Your  husband  is  a  prisoner, 
and  only  death  can  release  him — and  you  are  here  with 
me  alone  and  helpless.  Do  "you  understand  that,  my 
lady?" 

"I  understand;  yet  I  cannot  think  you  so  wholly  a 
coward,"  she  managed  to  say,  "as  to  offer  harm  to  a 
helpless  woman." 

"Coward  I  Fudge!  I  am  not  trying  to  establish  in 
your  eyes  a  reputation  for  gallantry." 

He  reached  out  his  hand  as  if  to  seize  her  wrist,  but 
she  drew  back  with,a  startled  cry. 

'  Featherstone  would  have  followed  up  this  advance,  but 
at  that  instant  his  quick  ear  caught  the  sound  of  a  mov 
ing  stone  among  the  mass  of  rocks  to  the  right. 

He  stopped  and  looked  eagerly  about  him.  The  sun 
was  now  pouring  a  flood  of  gold  into  the  Nuuanu  Valley, 
and  the  silvery  mists  were  rising  and  dissolving  over  the 
steeples  of  distant  Honolulu. 

What  was  that?  Up  from  the  valley,  clear,  resonant 
and  startling,  there  came  the  thrilling  notes  of  a  military 
bugle,  sounding  the  advance. 

Featherstone  looked  eagerly  down  in  the  direction  of 
the. sound  and  caught  the  flash  of  the  sun  on  polished 
arms.  The  soldiers  were  approaching,  and  his  heart  told 
him  they  were  searching  for  him. 

Driven  to  desperation  by  the  thought  that  the  end  was* 
nearing  and  that  all  his  plans  had  melted  into  thin  air, 
like  the  mists,  he  shot  out  an  oath,  and,  springing  back? 
caught  the  slender  figure  in  his  arms,  and  shouted : 

"If  we  cannot  live,  we  can  at  least  die,  together." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A    STRUGGLE    FOR    LIFE. 

IT  is  said  by  those  who  have  been  suddenly  confronted 
by  what  seemed  deatli  in  its  most  terrible  form  that  there 
is  no  sense  of  dread.  Dread  implies  time  for  thought,  a 


204  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

period  during  which  the  cause  can  be  carried  by  a  mental 
process  to  its  effect ;  but  in  the  face  of  immediate  destruc 
tion,  even  though  resistance  be  made,  there  is  no  sense 
of  horror,  for  all  the  reasoning  faculties  are  paralyzed. 

Marguerite  sent  up  a  cry  when  she  saw  Featherstone 
leaping  toward  her  with  the  look  of  a  madman  in  his 
eyes;  but  entirely  powerless. to  move,  she  stood  as  if 
rooted  to  the  spot. 

She  did  not  faint ;  but  as  he  pressed  her  in  his  arms, 
still  carrying  her  toward  the  Pali  Cliff,  he  kissed  her, 
and  with  her  weak  arms  she  fought  him  off  as  best  she 
could,  but  he  was  entirely  unconscious  of  the  resistance 
she  offered. 

Curiously  enough  she  noticed  a  crimson  butterfly  that 
at  that  moment  flitted  past  her  face ;  and  she  mentally 
appreciated  its  exquisite  beauty,  and  recalled  that,  to 
the  old  Greeks,  it  typified  Psyche,  or  the  immortal  soul. 

She  caught  sight  of  the  awful  abyss,  and  the  name  in 
her  heart  burst  up  to  her  lips. 

"Kohala!  Kohala!" 

"Ay,  call  upon  Kohala;  he  is  powerless  to  help  you 
now!"  shouted  Featherstone,  and  he  stooped  to  kiss  her 
again. 

Clear,  high  and  ringing,  like  a  heaven-sent  answer  to 
the  cry  of  Marguerite,  she  heard  the  loved  voice  an 
swering  : 

"Kohala  is  here!" 

With  the  swift  sweep  of  an  eagle,  which  with  fierce 
cry  rushes  down  on  the  despoiler  of  its  eyrie,  Kohala  of 
Hawaii,  from  the  rock  behind  which  he  had  been  con 
cealed,  leaped  straight  at  the  throat  of  the  traitor. 

With  his  left  hand  fastened  in  the  wretch's  neck,  in 
the  right  he  swung  the  club  that  had  already  freed  him 
from  a  nobler  dog,  and  Featherstone  staggered  back,  his 
hat  severed  by  the  blow  and  the  blood  flowing  over  his 
face. 

He  released  his  hold  of  Marguerite  as  he  fell  back,  and 
in  her  amazement  and  utter  helplessness  she  would  have 
dropped  to  the  ground  had  not  other  and  more  manly 
arms  caught  and  sustained  her. 

"Marguerite!    My  life!    my  wife!"      She  heard  the 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  205 

dear  voice  of  Kohala  and  felt  his  kisses  raining  on  her 
face,  then  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  blended  and 
she  knew  no  more. 

"My  Marguerite !  my  wife  is  dead!"  cried  Kohala,  in 
tones  of  mingled  rage  and  anguish. 

?  He  carried  her  back  from  the  cliff,  and,  laying  her 
down  with  her  back  against  a  protecting  rock,  supported 
the  dear  head  with  one  hand  and  by  means  of  his  hat  in 
the  other  he  tried  to  fan  her. 

She  had  lost  consciousness  in  that  moment  of  supreme 
emotion  and  deadly  peril ;  but,  like  a  true  defender  of 
the  loved,  all  his  senses  and  powers  were  intensified. 

From  the  instant  he  had  freed  his  wife  from  Feather- 
stone's  clutch-  Kohala,  in  his  anxiety  for  her  safety,  gave 
the  fellow  no  thought,  till  the  clicking  of  a  pistol  ham 
mer  recalled  him  to  a  sense  of  the  true  situation. 

Springing  to  his  feet  and  looking  quickly  about  him, 
he  saw  Featherstone  resting  on  one  knee  and  covering 
him  with  a  revolver. 

Then  came  a  flash  and  a  crash.  Kohala  instinctively 
had  leaped  to  one  side  and  the  bullet  hit  the  rock  above 
Marguerite's  head,  and  the  leaden  splash  struck  one 
cheek  and  restored  her  to  consciousness. 

Featherstone  was  an  adept  with  the  pistol,  but  his 
hand  was  not  steady  and  the  blood  from  his  wound  had 
dimmed  his  sight. 

He  rose  to  his  feet,  with  an  oath  at  his  failure,  and 
was  in  the  act  of  recocking  the  pistol  when  Kohala — not 
thinking  of  the  club  which  had  been  cast  aside — sprang 
at  him,  and,  seizing  the  pistol,  tried  to  wrench  it  from 
his  grasp. 

Featherstone,  though  not  so  tall  as  Kohala,  was  far 
more  powerfully  built,  and;  in  his  time,  had  prided  him 
self  on  his  athletic  skill.  In  addition  to  this  he  had  the 
Englishman's  contempt  for  the  strength  and  endurance 
of  an  opponent,  particularly  an  opponent  of  another  race. 

He  could  not  hold  to  the  pistol  and  use  all  his  great 
strength  to  advantage,  so  he  threw  the  weapon  to  the 
front,  and,  as  it  went  crashing  against  the  jagged  spikes 
of  the  Pali  Cliff,  the  cartridges  in  the  chamber  were  ex 
ploded. 


206  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"Curse  you!  now  I  have  you!"  roared  Featherstone. 

He  threw  his  powerful  arms  about  the  younger  man, 
and  so  sudden  and  unexpected  was  the  act  that,  before 
Kohala  could  brace  himself  to  resist,  he  was  drawn  at 
least  ten  feet  toward  the  abyss,  which  was  now  only  a 
few  yards  away. 

Hate  is  strong,  but  love  is  stronger.  Hate  is  for  the 
hour,  but  love  is  for  eternity. 

Kohala  caught  sight  of  the  frightened  eyes  and  white 
face  of  his  wife,  and  her  helplessness  filled  him  and 
nerved  him  with  the  strength  of  a  giant. 

The  one  man  was  ponderous  wrought-iron,  the  other 
was  well-tempered  and  elastic  steel.  The  one  man  was 
fighting  for  death,  the  other  for  life. 

Featherstone  felt  two  arms  clasping  his  waist,  while 
the  fingers,  like  the  claws  of  a  tiger,  seemed  to  cut 
through  his  flesh,  and  then  he  was  lifted  high  above  the 
head  of  the  younger  man  and  flung  back  with  a  force 
that  must  have  crushed  the  life  out  of  him  on  the  rocks 
had  he  not,  with  the  instinct  of  a  trained  wrestler,  clung 
to  the  collar  of  his  opponent,  "which,  though  it  gave  way, 
broke  the  force  of  his  fall. 

Again  Kohala 's  splendid  presence  of  mind  came  into 
play.  He  realized  that  he  was  standing  between  Feather- 
stone  and  the  brink  of  the  Pali,  and  that  he  might  be  sent 
over  the  cliff  by  the  sudden  onset  of  his  panting  assailant. 
Quicker  than  it  takes  to  record  the  act  he  had  leaped  be 
yond  his  foe  and  repossessed  himself  of  his  club,  no  small 
advantage  in  such  a  struggle. 

Featherstone  saw  all  this -as  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  He 
was  about  to  make  another  rush  at  Kohala,  who,  an 
ticipating  it,  stood  on  his  guard,  when  another  figure, 
that  seemed  to  have  dropped  from  the  sky,  so  sudden 
was  its  appearance,  leaped  between  the  two. 

In  this  figure  Featherstone  recognized  the  driver  whom 
he  supposed  to  be  with  the  horses  down  the  hill,  if,  in 
deed,  lie  had  given  him  a  thought  since  parting  from 
him. 

"What  brings  you  here?  Back  to  your  horses!"  he 
shouted,  and  he  was  amazed  that  the  native  did  not  fly 
at  his  bidding. 


KOHALA   Otf    HAWAII.  207 

"The  horses  are  all  right,  captain." 

This  is  what  the  native  said,  in  the  calm,  impassive  voice 
of  a  white  man  who  was  quite  at  home  in  such  a  scene 
and  entirely  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 

"Get  away,  you  dog,  or  I  will  throw  you  over  the 
cliff!"  roared  Featherstone,  taking  a  step  toward  the 
intruder. 

Instead  of  leaping  back  the  driver  drew  a  pistol  from 
his  blouse,  pointed  it  in  a  businesslike  way  at  the  cap 
tain's  head  and  said,  in  the  same  cool,  maddening  way: 

"I  wouldn't  try  that  if  I  were  you,  Featherstone;  you 
might  get  badly  left  on  the  contract.  Ah,  I  see  you 
think  I  am  an  ordinary  Honolulu  Kanaka  driver.  Well, 
I  am  not  ashamed  of  your  mistake,  for  some  of  them  are 
good  fellows,  right  up  and  down  good  fellows  that  you 
are  not  worthy  to  hold  a  candle  to.  There,  you  can  now 
get  some  idea  as  to  who  I  am,  though  I  can't  get  the 
color  off  my  face  without  water. ' ' 

While  saying  this  the  driver  divested  himself  of  his 
blouse,  loose  cotton  trousers  and  wig  and  stood  before 
Featherstone  in  the  uniform  of  the  Provisional  Army. 

"Blake !"  gasped  the  captain. 

"That  is  my  name,  at  your  service." 

"I  am  sold  on  all  sides  !" 

"No,  not  sold;  you  have  given  yourself  away;  that's 
cheeper,"  and  Blake  laughed  like  a  man  enjoying  the 
situation.  Then,  with  a  half -glance  at  Kohala,  he 
added : 

"You  attend  to  the  lady ;  I'll  take  care  of  this  fellow." 

Kohala  sprang  to  Marguerite's  side,  knelt  down  and 
took  the  dear  head  on  his  breast. 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  me?"  asked 
Featherstone,  with  a  defiant  air  and  a  backward  step. 

"What  do  you  think  should  be  done  with  you,  come, 
now?" 

"I  know  what  you  will  not  do." 

"What  is  that?" 

"Make  me  a  prisoner." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  will;  and  let  me  say,  Featherstone,  that 
I  will  treat  you  kinder  than  you  have  treated  your  pris 
oners,  and  we'll  give  you  a  fair  trial  and  a  fitting  sentence, 


208  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

though  there  are  men  over  in  Honolulu  at  this  time  who 
would  lynch  you  off-hand,  but  Colonel  Loring  will  not 
permit  that.  Come,  now,  old  fellow,  save  trouble  by 
surrendering,  for  you  have  reached  the  end  of  your 
halter,"  and  Blake  took  a  forward  step. 

Featherstone  took  another  backward  step,  and,  with 
an  oath,  shouted : 

"I  will  never  surrender!" 

"Nonsense!" 

"Keep  back,  I  tell  you  !" 

"Hold,  man!  Hold!"  cried  Blake.  "Can't  you  see 
the  Pali  is  behind  you?  Come  back  !"  and,  for  the  first 
time,  he  became  excited  at  the  awful  danger  threatening 
the  man  in  front. 

At  this  juncture  the  blast  of  a  bugle  again  rang  up  the 
valley  accompanied  by  the  cheering  of  men  and  the 
ringing  of  flying  hoofs. 

"I  will  not  be  taken,  I  tell  you  !" 

"My  God!     Hold,  man!" 

Blake  sprang  forward  as  if  to  seize  Featherstone,  but 
he  was  too  late. 

Featherstone  reeled  on  the  edge  of  the  chasm,  gave  a 
quick  downward  glance,  tried  to  recover  himself,  then. 
with  a  cry  that  froze  the  listeners  with  horror,  plunged 
over  the  precipice  of  the  Pali. 

"Come,  Kohala,  the  Pali  has  lost  its  glory  and  its 
beauty  for  to-day,"  said  Blake,  and,  shading  his  eyes, 
he  tottered  back  from  the  chasm  down  which  an  un 
fortunate  life  had  vanished. 

"Devil  though  the  man  was,"  said  Kohala,  with  a 
shudder,  "I  would  have  saved  him  from  that  if  I  could." 

' '  He  brought  it  on  himself.  Sooner  or  later  it  had  to 
come.  After  all,  what  matters  it  whether  such  lives  go 
out  on  the  gallows  or  over  the  Pali?  Can  I  help  you, 
madam?" 

"No,  I  thank  you,"  said  Marguerite,  who  now  stood 
trembling  and  clinging  to  her  husband's  arm. 

"Then  let  us  be  moving." 

As  they  went  down  toward  the  carriage  Marguerite 
slowly  recovered  from  the  awful  shock,  though  it  was 
long  before  she  was  fully  restored.  It  seemed  to  her  as 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  209 

if  she  had  been  and  still  was  in  a  dream,  and  it  was  to 
satisfy  herself  that  such  was  not  the  case  that  she  said 
to  Blake. 

"Oh,  sir,  you  have  been  so  kind,  and  I  have  to  thank 
you  for  so  much." 

"If  I  have  been  of  use  it  was  simply  in  the  line  of  my 
duty ;  but  I  will  say,  madam,  that  I  so  admired  your 
pluck  and  your  genuine,  no-mistake,  fastrcolor  love  for 
your  husband  that  I'd  have  looked  on  it  as  a  pleasure  to 
help  you  whether  it  was  duty  or  not." 

"Then  I  must  thank  you,  too,"  joined  in  Kohala. 

"Oh,  that  all  goes  for  granted.  But  you  must  tell  me 
your  story  as  soon  as  we  get  a  good  chance.  Feather- 
stone  was  not  in  this  job  alone,  and  in  the  interest  of 
justice  we  must  get  at  the  fellows  who  helped  him.  By 
the  way,  madam,  were  you  alarmed  when  the  carriage 
was  stopped  last  night?" 

"On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Blake,"  said  Marguerite,  "that 
incident  brought  me  a  great  sense  of  comfort." 

"Indeed  !"  with  a  pleased  laugh.     "How  was  that?" 

"I  knew  that  you  had  caused  it." 

"Good;  so  I  did." 

"But  I  never  dreamed  that  you  were  the  driver." 

"No?  Well,  I  thought  I  should  surprise  you  before  we 
got  through.  Hello !  here's  my  team.  And  now,  Ko 
hala,  if  you  and  your  wife  will  get  in  it  will  afford  me 
the  greatest  pleasure  of  my  life  to  drive  you  both  back 
to  Honolulu." 

As  .Blake  was  holding  open  the  door  and  Marguerite 
and  Kohala  were  getting  in  a  band  of  armed  horsemen 
came  on  the  scene,  and  when  they  learned  what  had  hap 
pened  they  waved  their  hats,  stood  up  in  the  stirrups  and 
cheered  to  the  echo. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A   NEW   DANGER. 

BEFORE  the  carriage  started  off  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  mounted  men  said  to  Blake : 

"You  are  right  about  that  fellow  Pedro." 
"Did  he  confess?"  asked  Blake. 


210  .        KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"No:  but  two  of.  his  men  did." 
m    "What  have  you  done  with  them?" 

"Sent  the  whole  lot,  except  the  girl,  Annetta,  prisoners 
into  Honolulu." 

"Good;  now  let  us  be  getting  back." 

The  horsemen  fell  in  behind  the  carriage,  and  the 
hungry  team  never  went  down  the  valley  road  at  such 
a  pace  before. 

Residents  in  the  Tropics  are  not  early  risers.  The 
cool  nights  tempt  to  late  hours,  and  so  the  people  in 
Honolulu  were  not  yet  astir  when  the  carriage  halted 
before  Marguerite's  cottage. 

As  Kohala  helped  his  wife  out  he  said  to  Blake  : 

"I  feel  that  it  is  an  imposition  to  trouble  you  further, 
but  I  have  a  request  to  ask." 

"And  I  arn  just  in*  the  humor  to  grant  it,"  said  Blake. 

"When  you  have  rested  and  had  breakfast  would  you 
please  call  on  Colonel  Ellis,  tell  him  all  that  has  hap 
pened  and  say  that  I  shall  be  here  whenever  he  is  ready 
to  see  me?" 

"I  shall  be  delighted.  Congratulations  on  our  success. 
Madam,  good-morning. ' ' 

Blake  raised  his  hat,  cracked  the  whip  and  was  gone. 

The  couple  were  sitting  in  the  boudoir  about  an  hour 
after  breakfast,  Kohala  eagerly  awaiting  the  result  of  the 
mission  intrusted  to  Blake,  when  they  heard  the  roll  of 
a  rapidly  driven  carriage,  which  came  to  a  sudden  stop 
before  the  gate. 

Unmindful  of  her  warning  or  anxious  to  conciliate  the 
new  authority,  Clem  put  in  her  head  and  said : 

"If  you  please,  mem  and  sir,  there's  a  lady  and  a  gent 
as  wishes  to  see  you. ' ' 

"What  are  the  names?"  asked  Kohala. 

"Colonel  Ellis,  sir,  and  his  daughter." 

Kissing  Marguerite  again — that  was  the  one  act  he 
could  never  weary  of — Kohala  went  to  the  door. 

He  expected  that  his  old  guardian  would  be  cold  and 
provoked;  great,  then,  was  his  joy  when  Alice  kissed 
him  as  if  he  were  her  brother — indeed,  she  so  regarded 
him — and  the  colonel  took  him  in  his  arms  and  fairly 
hugged  him. 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  211 

•'Well,"  cried  Colonel  Ellis,  when  he  could  get  his 
breath,  "it  strikes  me  that  you  have  been  getting  up 
a  revolution  on  your  own  account.  But  where  is  the 
lady?  Your  wife  must  be  our  friend.  I  tried — foolishly, 
I  now  see — to  direct  the  current  of  your  wooing ;  I  should 
have  known  that  love  is  the  one  irresistible,  uncontrol 
lable  force  in  Nature." 

Alice  looked  at  her  father  to  see  if  she  had  his  consent 
to  speak-,  and  on  receiving  a  meaning  nod,  she  addressed 
herself  to  the  young  husband  and  wife  in  this  way : 

"The  Queen,  who  thought  she  was  bringing  about  your 
marriage  to  further  her  own  ends,  has  not  been  success 
ful.  Through  her  friends  the  news  of  this  marriage  is 
now  flying  over  all  the  islands,  and,  as  we  may  well  be 
lieve,  it  will  stir  up  a  storm  in  Hawaii.  We  have  dis 
cussed  all  this  at  home ;  and  mother,  who  is  still  an 
invalid — particularly  in  the  forenoon — has  sent  me  here 
as  her  representative.  Here  are  some  of  mother's  orders," 
continued  Alice,  and  she  looked  down  at  the  palm  of  her 
shapely  right  hand  as  if  the  orders  were  written  thereon 
and  were  plainly  legible  to  herself.  "We  have  a  large 
house  and  plenty  of  servants.  That  house  is  the  home 
of  Kohala.  There  a  welcome  always  awaits  him.  Ko 
hala  has  'gone  and  got  married' — I  don't  know  where  I 
first  heard  that  colloquialism,  but  it  suits.  He  loves  his 
wife,  and  we  shall  love  her  for  his  sake  and  for  her 
own.  This  is  her  home.  Tell  her  to  close  up  at  once — 
we'll  send  reliable  people  to  pack  up  her  belongings,  and 
so  you  fetch  her  with  you  to  this  house.  These,  my  dear 
Marguerite,  are  mother's  orders;  do  you  dare  disobey 
them?" 

For  reply,  Marguerite  came  over  and  knelt  beside  Alice. 
'  The  two  men,  without  waiting  for  further  consent, 
walked  out,  and,  in  order  not  to  attract  attention  on 
the  now  busy  streets,  they  got  into  the  carriage  and 
were  driven  round  to  the  Hawaiian  Hotel. 

They  found  Phipps  on  guard  at  the  door  of  the  Council 
chamber.  The  only  person  in  the  Council-room  at  this 
early  hour  was  Colonel  Loring.  So  eager  was  the  young 
soldier  to  do  his  full  duty  and  that  nothing  should  fail  by 
his  default  that,  when  not  engaged  with  his  command 


212  KOHALA   OP    HAWAII. 

outside,  he  was  always  to  be  found  at  headquarters.     In 
deed,  as  we  have  seen,  he  slept  there. 

"As  there  is  no  time  to  waste,"  said  Colonel  Ellis, 
when  they  were  seated,  "for  the  steamer  for  San  Fran 
cisco  sails  to-morrow  and  the  danger  is  hourly  growing 
greater,  I  think  it  better  that  we  should  look  the  new 
danger  in  the  face  like  men  and  see  how  it  can  be 
avoided  or  met." 
.  "What  danger  do  you  refer  to?"  asked  Kohala. 

"Keona,  ever  since  the  birth  of  his  daughter,  has  lived 
but  for  one  object,  and  that  was  that  he  should  one  day 
see  her  the  wife  of  the  King  of  Hawaii.  His  hopes  in  that 
direction  are  blasted,  and  you  should  know  the  conse 
quences —  should  have  reasoned  them  out  before  you 
gave  way  to  the  promptings  of  your  heart,  though,  mark 
you,  Kohala,  I  am  not  blaming  you.  I  think  I  should 
have  acted,  under  the  circumstances,  about  as  you 
have,"  said  the  colonel. 

"But  what  do  you  mean  by  the  consequences?"  asked 
Kohala. 

"You  should  know  without  any  asking.  The  natives 
believe  that  you,  by  this  marriage,  have  betrayed  them  ; 
and  I  tell  you  frankly  that  I  fear  for  the  consequences." 

A  knock  at  the  door  brought  the  conversation  to  a  stop. 

The  door  was  opened  by  Phipps,  and  Blake  entered, 
looking  as  fresh  as  if  he  had  not  been  up  and  hard  at 
work  all  night. 

"What  news,  Blake?"  asked  Colonel  Loring. 

"The  chief  has  just  arrived,  a  score  of  armed  men  with 
him." 

"Where  are  they  now?" 

"Still  on  board  the  steamer.  But  I  should  not  be  sur 
prised  if  Keona  appeared  at  any  moment,"  said  Blake. 

"You  must  take  my  carriage  and  go  with  Kohala  to 
the  cottage,  where  you  will  find  his  wife  and  my  daugh 
ter.  Take  the  whole  party  round  to  my  house  at  once," 
said  Colonel  Ellis. 

Blake  saluted,  and,  now  keenly  alive  to  the  situation, 
Kohala  followed  him  from  the  room. 


itOHALA   OF    HAWAII.  213 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

ALL  FOR   LOVE   AND   A   KINGDOM   WELL  LOST. 

r  BLAKE  had  come  not  a  moment  too  soon  with  the  news 
of  the  chief's  arrival,  and  Kohala  had  left  the  Council 
chamber  not  a  moment  too  soon  for  his  own  safety. 

The  two  had  not  been  gone  four  minutes  when  Phipps 
looked  in  and  said : 

"There's  a  man  here  who  doesn't  belong  to  the  Council, 
and  divil  a  wan  of  him  knows  the  pass. ' ' 

"And  his  name?"  said  Colonel  Loring. 

Before  Phipps  could  put  the  question  to  the  man  out 
side  a  high-keyed  voice  called  out : 

"I  am  Keona  of  Hawaii !" 

"Admit  the  gentleman,"  said  Colonel  Loring. 

The  door  was  opened  and  the  chief,  dressed  like  a  white 
man,  but  with  a  repeating  rifle  in  his  hand,  strode  into 
the  room. 

"Glad  to  see  you  !  When  did  you  arrive?"  was  Colonel 
Ellis 's  salutation,  as,  with  hand  extended,  he  advanced 
to  the  chief. 

"I  have  been  betrayed !" 

"Betrayed?"  echoed  the  colonel. 

"Yes,  and  you,  Colonel  Ellis,  know  it!" 

"I,  Colonel  Ellis,  know  nothing  of  the  kind;  and  let 
me  say,  right  here,  that  I  do  not  permit  myself  to  be 
talked  to  in  this  way,"  said  the  colonel,  notly. 

"I  am  Keona  of  Hawaii." 

"I  do  not  care,vsir,  if  you  are  the  King  of  Hawaii.  I 
have  ever  been  your  friend,  and  I  have  done  nothing  to 
forfeit  your  regard  or -to  merit  this  rudeness." 

"Colonel  Ellis,  you  are  a  man?" 

"I  hope  so." 

"And  you  have  a  daughter?" 

"I  have." 

"What  would  you  do  to  the  man  who  betrayed  her; 
to  the  man  who  was  to  have  married  her  and  then,  like 
a  dog,  married  another,  and  she  a  white  woman?" 

"The  word  'betray'  is  the  wrong  word  to  use." 

"It  may  be,  for  your  speech  is  not  mine." 


214  KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 

"But  you  refer  to  Kohala?" 

"I  do." 

"But  would  you  want  him  to  marry -your  daughter  if 
he  did  rot  love  her?" 

"Love  her?"  repeated  Keona,  not  at  all  understanding 
the  proper  meaning  of  the  word.  "Is  not  my  Leila,  with 
her  youth  and  beauty  and  wealth — my  Leila,  who,  since 
her  infancy,  has  been  betrothed  to  Kohala — more  fit  to 
be  his  wife  than  is  this  unknown  white  woman?" 

"She  may  be,  but  that  does  not  enter  into  the  ques 
tion," 

"Why  not?" 

"Kohala  is  married." 

"So  I  have  heard,  and  may  the  curse  of  all  the  gods 
fall  on  him  !  But  he  lives,  and  he  is  still  in  Hawaii. ' ' 

"He  lives,"  said  the  colonel,  sternly,  "and  he  is  still 
in  Honolulu ;  and  he  and  his  wife  are  guests  in  my  house. 
You  know  that  I  was  eager  for  Kohala  to  marry  your 
daughter ;  but  when  he  chose  to  marry  another  woman, 
and  one  who,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  equal  of  your  daugh 
ter  or  mine,  then  I  propose  to  stand  by  him.  And  let  me 
say  right  here  to  your  face,  Keona  of  Hawaii,  that  if  you 
attempt  to  harm  this  young  man  or  his  wife  I  shall  for 
get  our  friendship  and  your  wealth  and  your  rank  and 
I  will  see  that  you  are  treated  like  a  common  criminal." 

"I  shall  do  as  my  heart  prompts,"  said  Keona,  with 
scorn ;  "and  let  me  say  to  you  that,  though  my  race  has 
melted  away  before  yours,  it  has  been  through  your  vices 
and  not  on  the  batlefield.  I  do  not  fear  the  white  man, 
and  Kohala,  the  renegade,  is  white  down  deep  to  his 
heart !" 

When  the  door  had  closed  beliind  the  chief  Colonel 
Ellis  turned  to  the  young  soldier  and  said  : 

"That  man  is  desperate,  Loring,  and  must  be  watched. " 

"I  agree  with  you,"  said  Loring. 

"Can't  you  detail  a  number  of  men  to  keep  a  lookout 
on  him?" 

"I  can,  and  I  shall  do  it  at  once.  Go  to  the  house,  and 
if  you  do  not  need  Blake  tell  him  to  report  here  immedi 
ately."  and  Colonel  Loring  rang  the  bell  for  his  orderly. 

Colonel  Ellis,  feeling  anj'thing  but  like  a  man  who  was 


KOHALA  OF    HAWAII.  215 

going,  that  day,  to  give  a  wedding  dinner  at  his  own 
house,  hastened  home. 

He  found  Kohala  there  with  his  wife,  and  they  were 
as  happy  as  if  the  last  cloud  had  forever  vanished  from 
their  lives. 

The  colonel  saw  this,  and  realizing  that  no  good  could 
come  from  telling  them  of  the  presence  and  the  threats 
of  the  chief  he  refrained. 

After  dinner  he  took  Kohala  to  the  smoking-room  and 
said  : 

"Tell  your  wife  that  you  must  both  have  your  trunks 
ready  for  the  steamer  that  sails  to-morrow  for  San  Fran 
cisco.  ' ' 

"But  why  this  haste?"  asked  Kohala. 

"You  must  ask  no  questions,  but  do  as  I  say." 

"Very  well;  but  if  I  am  to  leave  so  soon  I  must  go 
out  and  make  arrangements  with  the  bank  about  money." 

"You  must  not  be  seen  on  the  streets ;  I  will  attend  to 
the  money.  I  hold  a  balance  of  yours — more  than  you 
will  need  to  spend  for  five  years  to  C9me — and  you  can 
have  more  when  you  want  it.  My  ad  rice  to  you  is  to 
go  to  Europe  or  to  Southern  California  with  your  wife. 
Get  a  home  and  keep  house ;  never  think  of  hotel  life. 
After  a  while  peace,  prosperity  and  a  better  feeling 
will  come  to  Hawaii,  and  then  it  will  be  quite  safe  for 
you  to  return  with  your  wife.  There,  my  boy,  that  is 
all  I  have  to  say." 

"And  from  my  heart  I  thank  you  for  what  you  have 
said  and  what  you  have  done, "  said  Kohala,  and  he  seized 
his  guardian's  strong,  brown  hand  and  kissed  it. 

It  was  not  till  the  Empress  of  the  Seas  had  been  a  day 
out  from  Honolulu  that  any  one  but  Colonel  Ellis  and 
his  family,  Blake  and  Colonel  Loring  knew  that  Kohala 
and  his  wife  had  sailed  for  America. 

Last  March  Alice  Ellis  became  Mrs.  Loring,  and  the 
valuable  silver  service  that  came  on  as  a  wedding  pres 
ent  from  America  was  sent  by  Kohala  and  his  wife. 
The  letter  that  accompanied  it  was  written  by  Margue 
rite,  and,  among  other  things,  it  said : 

"We  are  living  in  a  perfect  Eden  to  the  east  of  Los 


216 


KOHALA   OF    HAWAII. 


Angeles  and  not  far  from  the  Paradise  of-  Pasadena. 
But  with  Kohala  ever  near  to  assure  me  of  his  love, 
the  dullest,  stormiest  land  on  earth  would  be  an  Eden. 

"We  never  weary  of  speaking  of  your  great  kindness 
to  us,  and  in  that  we  forget  the  shadows  that  fell  on  us 
in  beautiful  Hawaii. 

"Life  to  me,  up  to  this  loving,  was  far  from  happy, 
and  I  regarded  it  with  indifference.  Now  every  moment 
is  a  joy,  and  I  fervently  thank  God  that  I  live  and  that 
I  may  be  worthy  the  continuance  of  this  happiness. 

"That  you  and  your  noble  husband  maybe  as  happy 
as  myself  and  Kohala  is  the  prayer  of 

"Your  affectionate  friend,  MARGUERITE." 


THE   END. 


Where  Is  He  Going? 

Gentle  reader,  he  is  hurrying  home. 
And  it's  house-cleaning  time,  too 
—think  of  that !   Fifteen  years  ago, 
he  wouldn't  have  done  it.     Just  at 
this  time,  he'd  be  ''taking  to  the 
woods."      But  now,   things  are 
different. .   His  house  is  cleaned 
with    Pearline.       That   makes 
house-cleaning    easy.       Easy    for 
those  who  do  it — easy  for   those 
who  have  it  done.     No  hard  work 
no  wear  and  tear,  no  turmoil  and 
confusion,  no  time  wasted,  no  tired 
women,  .no  homeless  men.    Every 
thing's    done    smoothly,    quickly,    quietly, 
easily.     Try  it  and  see.         331 


am 

JAMES  PYLE,  N.  I 


.2 

05 
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